Chapter 114: Your Majesty's visit to Chang'an Palace has nothing to do with me
The sun is not too strong.
The wind wasn't too strong.
The mixture of cement, sand and gravel that was flattened by the First Emperor with a shovel lost moisture under the warm sun and breeze.
It slowly changed from a muddy flowing object into a gray-black solid plate.
Time passed slowly. During this period, the First Emperor never left. Fu Zikang took out a porcelain bottle from somewhere and poured the liquid into it, with reluctance in his eyes.
This is the extremely precious hardener that Changan Jun mentioned. It is extremely precious and some needs to be poured into every demonstration. Now there is only this small bottle.
Qin Shihuang didn't care about Fu Zikang's expression at all, but looked at the five-year military pay that he had made using the clay mixing skills he had learned when he was a child.
It was just like that year when he stood on the podium and looked at the two Qin generals who had been loyal to him since childhood and had told him all night how to attack Chu.
Full of hope.
His hopes were dashed back then, but now...
"Your Majesty, it's done."
Fu Zikang squatted down, hit the gray-black solid plate hard with his fist, looked up and said happily.
There was still a lot of cement powder on the gray-black solid plate. The young official Zhisu had already forgotten what he had just said to dissuade the First Emperor - this thing would burn your hands.
"alright?"
"Okay, okay, it's turned into concrete."
"Concrete, another word I have never heard of."
The First Emperor muttered something, squatted down, looked at the concrete that Fu Zikang had hammered hard just now but had no cracks at all, and suddenly slapped it with his palm!
Peng~
The First Emperor's palms hurt from the slap. Even with the help of his inner strength, the recoil force still caused blood to quickly fill up in his hands and turn red.
The First Emperor felt that his slap was like hitting a piece of hard stone.
"His Majesty!"
Fu Zikang cried out in surprise. He had not expected that the First Emperor would personally use his bare palm to test the hardness of the concrete, so he hurriedly reached out to stop it.
"Don't block me!"
The First Emperor opened his eyes wide, full of surprise, without any trace of pain.
He ignored the pain in his palm and this time called upon all his internal energy. The internal energy flowed into his right palm through the eight extraordinary meridians, making his right palm unusually strong in a short period of time.
He then used his legs to stand slightly, bent his waist slightly to use the strength of his legs, and swung his right arm heavily to use the strength of his waist and legs.
"Not open?"
The First Emperor used all his strength and internal energy to hit the concrete hard with his palm.
Peng~
A sound duller than the previous one was heard.
The entire concrete block sank two inches and smoke and dust filled the air.
"Ahem, your majesty, are you okay?"
Fu Zikang waved his sleeves to clear away the smoke and dust, and while coughing, he grabbed the First Emperor's right hand.
The moment they made contact, Fu Zikang felt that the First Emperor's right hand was shaking uncontrollably.
"Your Majesty, I will ask the guards to test it for you. Chang'an Jun once demonstrated in front of me that even if he chopped with a long spear or a sharp sword, the concrete would not leave any cracks."
The smoke and dust dissipated.
The concrete was intact.
But the first emperor's right hand, which was caught by Fu Zikang, seemed to have become a little fatter and bigger.
"No problem, no problem!"
The First Emperor pulled out his right hand, ignoring the numbing pain in his palm. His eyes were shining like stars in the sky. He stared at Fu Zikang and asked, " How much does this thing cost? Just this warehouse? This can't even cover five years of military pay!"
Fu Zikang took out ten jade tokens from his body and handed them to the First Emperor with both hands.
When the First Emperor took them and looked at them, he discovered that each jade plate was inlaid with a glass bead of pure color, either red, green, blue or purple. Each glass bead was round and smooth, a nearly perfect sphere.
Each of these spherical glass beads is a rare treasure that can be used by the royal family as a national treasure. It is comparable to the Heshi Bi. The First Emperor had never seen such perfect glass beads.
Although the jade plaque that carried the colored glass bead was also top-grade jade and hard to come by, it pales in comparison to the colored glass bead - its value was more than a hundred times lower.
The front of the jade plaque has a glass bead and is engraved with words that the First Emperor had never seen before.
If there were modern people here, they would definitely be able to recognize that those are the simplified Chinese characters used today, and on the back is the Qin Dynasty's large seal script.
The text on both sides is consistent, all of which are place names - Handan, Shangjun, Linzi, etc.
"This is the work of Cheng Jiao!" The First Emperor said with certainty: "Such a perfect glass bead can only be made by Cheng Jiao!"
"The production of colored glaze is extremely complicated. Chang'an Jun can only get one colored glaze bead of this quality every six months. Jade plates can be forged, but colored glaze beads cannot. With this jade plate inlaid with colored glaze beads, Your Majesty can take out the cement that Chang'an Jun has stockpiled over the years in Linzi, Shangjun, Handan, Yingdu and other places. Chang'an Jun sent someone to deliver ten jade plates to me today, which is enough for Your Majesty to build fifteen highways."
After a pause, the governor of grain, who had been reluctant to talk, said, "I hope there will be no one in the world who is good at mixing mud."
In order to ensure that the highway was built solidly and could be used for a long time, the soil used to build the highway had to be processed in many ways during the Qin Dynasty when most roads were dirt roads.
The first point is compaction: rolling back and forth to reduce the gaps between the sand and soil so that it becomes hard, not easy to fall apart, and suitable for vehicles and horses to drive on.
The second point is to add salt: to turn the road into a saline-alkali road, just like those saline-alkali lands.
Only such a road, in the Qin Dynasty with lush grass and no pollution from modern technology, could have remained unmaintained for a long time without being overgrown with grass and trees, thus affecting the Qin army's advance.
The third point is to add ingredients and stir-fry: this ingredient was developed by the Mohist school and used on the walls of the imperial palace.
It can greatly reduce the water retention capacity of road soil and avoid soil erosion and muddy roads caused by rain.
There are also the fourth, fifth and sixth points, which I will not elaborate on here to avoid being accused of being too pedantic.
It can be said that at least half of the huge amount of money spent on the construction of the Chidao during the Qin Dynasty was spent on materials and material processing.
However, the cement that Ying Chengjiao provided to the First Emperor was different. First of all, the cement had already been made by Ying Chengjiao and was ready-made. No money needed to be spent to make it, thus saving material costs.
Secondly, the process of turning cement into concrete for road construction is also very simple. Just mix sand and gravel according to the proportion, and then add water. The operation is convenient and trouble-free.
The cement from ten places across the country, plus the gold and money in sacks pulled by carts from the Ministry of Grain, were enough to solve the funding problem that the First Emperor wanted to build the Great Highway.
Not only that, because the cement processing process is convenient and fast, it will also greatly shorten the construction period of the highway.
The First Emperor held his fingers upside down on one hand and tapped the cemented concrete, muttering to himself, "With God's blessing, there will be no natural or man-made disasters. With this magical object, the Jiuchi Road can be completed in three years."
He treasured the ten jade tokens and put them all in the pockets of the underwear he wore under the crown.
The appearance of these ten jade plates treasured by the First Emperor is even more exquisite than the Heshi Bi, his treasured jade.
"Your Majesty, there is cement on the jade tablet. If you put it inside, it will hurt the holy body."
At this time, Fu Zikang remembered that cement burned his skin and hurried to dissuade him.
"After I wipe your majesty, I will wash my hands and hand it to you."
"No problem."
The First Emperor fastened the buttons of his crown, which was embroidered with a black bird and could only be worn by an emperor, and patted the ten jade plates with great satisfaction.
The symbol of power of the Qin Dynasty is painted on the noble black crown with the Qin totem Xuanniao. The Xuanniao is shaking its wings, feeling very aggrieved - it wants to shake off the dust that has stained it.
And its owner, the Great Qin Shi Huang, had no intention of helping him at all.
The First Emperor couldn't help but smile silently, looking like the silly son .
"Hahahaha, good, good, good, good! This thing is wonderful! This thing is wonderful! Hahaha!"
The more the First Emperor thought about it, the happier he became.
He laughed loudly, showing no dignity of a king at all.
The laughter was heroic and clear, and it grew louder and louder, spreading from this small warehouse to the entire Zhisu Neishi Mansion.
The busy officials of the Ministry of Grain looked at each other blankly.
Which idiot is laughing so happily, is the work done?
When the Left Prime Minister and the Right Prime Minister heard that it was the First Emperor's laugh, they were stunned for a moment and then immediately became furious.
"Move, move! Why are you standing there? Will the money automatically go into the sack if you just stand there? Or will the brush automatically keep accounts? Move the gold and keep accounts, why are you looking at me?!"
"What are you daydreaming about? Do you want to go to bed on time today? You can't go to bed until you finish your work today! If you can't make it to curfew, you can all sleep at home tonight!"
Right Prime Minister Wang Wan, Left Prime Minister Li Si, Internal Secretary Meng Yi, and Director of the Imperial Chariots Zhao Gao, the four of them watched the Internal Secretary's Office, which was bustling with activity again.
Looking at the left and right chancellors of Zhisulishi Neishi who were shouting at the top of their lungs and drinking water to moisten their throats, I felt like they were out of place.
His Majesty laughed so loudly and looked so pleased. Why did you, the Minister of Internal Affairs, react like this?
So bland?
The Ministry of Internal Affairs is now full of Mohists and Nong's disciples?
"Wan, I haven't heard your Majesty sound so happy for a long time." Wang Wan sighed.
"That day when I presented the county system to Your Majesty, Your Majesty smiled like this." Li Si said with a stern face and without any expression.
Wang Wan's heart moved.
Your Majesty has long been in favor of the county system?
Was Li Si instructed by Your Majesty?
Then why did Your Majesty change your mind?
The Right Prime Minister's face twitched, and he looked angry but couldn't show it. He took a deep breath and said, "More than ten years ago, Your Majesty only had Wan by his side, and he often laughed like this ."
Li Si nodded heavily and emphasized, "More than ten years ago."
Zhao Gao smiled and said, "I wonder what the Internal History Fu Zhisu did to make Your Majesty so happy. When the Left Prime Minister first proposed the county system in the court, he went to the palace at night to talk about the counties in detail, but Your Majesty didn't smile so much. It seems that the military pay for the next five years should really be solved."
Wang Wan was still in a state of slight anger.
Li Si's body trembled, and the hint of complacency in his eyes instantly turned into surprise.
Meng Yi looked in the direction where the Emperor's laughter came from, and said from the bottom of his heart: "Nine highways and ten years of military pay can be completed by one person. The wealth of Lord Chang'an is enough to rival ten countries..."
The speaker was unintentional, but the listener was intentional. Wang Wan, Li Si and Zhao Gao were all shocked.
This vibration was in the same frequency as the vibration of the iron locks and chains on the warehouse filled with cement.
Crash~
Fu Zikang saw that the cement in the treasury was shaking up dust and smoke due to the laughter of the First Emperor, and was about to spill out, so he hurriedly closed the treasury door.
The sound of iron chains colliding on the door was constant.
On this day, the First Emperor's laughter broke the iron chain on the treasury door of the Grain Administration Bureau.
"Hahaha, this concrete is so strong that even if ten chariots were stacked on top of each other, there wouldn't be a crack in it. With such an indestructible artifact, how could the Great Qin Road be destroyed?"
The First Emperor seemed to see nine concrete roads connecting the east, west, south and north of the Qin Dynasty.
The valiant warriors of the Qin Dynasty advanced by leaps and bounds, and thousands of chariots rumbled along endlessly.
There was no dust, no muddy ground, and no grass or trees blocking the road.
When the war is over, this road will be open to the public.
The people of Qi will no longer risk their lives and cross mountains and rivers to enter Qin.
The food of Han could reach Yan territory in ten days, and the people of Yan were able to taste the food of Han.
Originally, less than one tenth of Zhao's goods reached Baiyue, and the transportation was extremely costly.
Walking on the highway, eight or nine out of ten things survive, and since there are many things, the price is cheap. All the Baiyue people can wear Zhao clothes and drink Zhao wine.
In ancient times, due to road problems, fatigue from traveling, and unfamiliar climate and water, separation meant never seeing each other again in this life, just like separation after death, with the Yin and Yang separated by the world.
This is the origin of the term "separation between life and death" from "Book of Chen·Biography of Xu Ling". Both caused the same pain to the ancients.
But with the highway made of concrete, separation no longer requires tears, because meeting again is not difficult.
In later generations of China, separations between life and death have different accounts.
The Great Qin Highway will truly connect China together and eliminate most of the barriers caused by long distances.
It has been like this for ten years, a hundred years, and a thousand years.
Snap~
This is the sound of Gai Nie drawing his sword.
Squeak
This is the sound of Gai Nie slashing with his sword.
Snap~
This is the sound of Gai Nie putting away his sword.
After three soft sounds, the concrete, which was indestructible in the eyes of the First Emperor and which he had tried his best to not create a crack in, was cut into two pieces with a "crash".
The First Emperor's laughter stopped abruptly.
He looked at Gai Nie, who had a blank expression on his face, as if he had done nothing.
"What are you doing?"
"Your Majesty said this thing is indestructible, I will give it a try."
“…”
Fu Zikang looked at the Qin Shi Huang's livid face in astonishment, then looked at Gai Nie who remained calm.
The swordsman is really amazing, but his temper is still as bad as ever, even in front of His Majesty...
Gai Nie is in the Chang'an Jun Mansion, nicknamed the Swordsman.
Just like Jing Ke was nicknamed the reckless man, Li Mu was nicknamed the drunkard, and Han Fei was nicknamed the stutterer.
Whether or not one has a nickname is one of the important criteria for Chang'an Junfu to distinguish strength.
"Give it to Zikang." The First Emperor said with repressed anger.
"I'm here." Fu Zikang calmed down and answered.
"Go to the front and tell Wang Wan, Li Si, and Meng Yi to return to their respective residences, and then call Zhao Gao over."
"only."
Soon, Fu Zikang brought Zhao Gao back.
Zhao Gao kept his head down the whole way, but his eyes scanned the place without slowing down, not missing any clues - he wanted to know, what caused the First Emperor to laugh so loudly?
But he saw nothing except some dust and two gray-black solid plates.
"Let's go to Chang'an Junfu and ask Cheng Jiao. Are you trying to sideline me by blatantly placing your confidant as the Minister of Grain, one of the Nine Ministers?" The First Emperor said angrily, looking up and leaving.
Zhao Gao had just heard the First Emperor laughing happily, but when he came in, he saw the First Emperor with a furious look on his face. As he followed behind the First Emperor, he glanced directly at Gai Nie.
It must be the work of this plague god. Fortunately, I was not there just now, otherwise I would be the one being scolded...
Gai Nie followed the First Emperor without looking around.
If you want to raid, then raid. What excuses are there?
Fu Zikang followed behind him with a sad face.
My Lord, I didn't say anything. Your Majesty's visit to Chang'an Palace has nothing to do with me...
