Section 2205 The Price of Road Construction

Things like road construction can be done by other empires, but they will definitely not invest as much as Li Cong. In their opinion, this is simply a move with a brain problem. They are aware of the convenience brought by a road, but they are absolutely unwilling to bear the huge investment, mainly because road construction in this era depends on stones, and roads paved with bluestone slabs can be said to be very costly , just like the widest street in the capital of the Eastern Empire, eight horse-drawn carriages can walk side by side, all of which are made of bluestone slabs, and a question arises, how many bluestone slabs do you need? This road has been built for 30 years. During these 30 years, millions of slaves lost their lives. The length of this road is only less than 400 kilometers, but this road is already considered the longest in the Eastern Empire. The road is good, the length of the bluestone slabs is only 50cm, and the width is 25cm. This road is 20 meters wide, and 160,000 bluestone slabs are needed for one kilometer. The whole road uses tens of millions of bluestone slabs, even if it is two people If you carry one piece, it takes a lot of manpower just to transport it, and some of them were unqualified and replaced. At that time, the price of bluestone slabs was not very valuable, only less than 40 yuan a piece. , but if it is transported to the capital, the price will be 5 taels of silver, and the road for one kilometer will cost 800,000 taels of silver. If it is done well, even if it is like this, millions of silver must be invested in maintenance every year, which is still an ordinary year. If there is any major matter, it needs to be overhauled, and if the overhaul does not have tens of millions of silver, it will definitely not be able to come down.

Although there may be some incidents where some officials swallowed the money, it can also reflect how huge this project is, and some livelihood problems are also very important. If the slaves are not used, but ordinary people In terms of labor, it is estimated that the Eastern Empire at that time would not have done such a thing. After hundreds of thousands of years of development, these four major empires only appeared in relatively large cities with such bluestone roads . This is already very good. That is to say, only the interior of the imperial city has some relatively precious stones. As for what the common people's road looks like, they don't care about that. Of course, they all know how good a good road will be during a war of. But this is also impossible. Finances are very tight now. If it continues to be used on this, I really don't know how they should live. Now there is no way to get along. It is already a large amount of foreign debt, and I will never pay a penny more on this road. Looking at Li Cong's side, the road of tens of thousands of kilometers is just a preliminary plan for Li Cong. It was pruned to defend the border, and the other was to want a major artery to appear in his own territory. Li Cong also studied the economic zones of the four major empires, and they were basically located in the riverside branches of the major empires. Because they don't have a point of transportation on land, inland waterway shipping occupies a large share. If there is no such thing, it is estimated that they would not do that, which is why they would do it. What Li Cong has to do is to create an economic route in his own territory for no reason. Economic development is very necessary.

Just taking advantage of the opportunity of road construction, Li Cong also pulled up a large amount of labor. After all, this place used to belong to the people of the Southern Empire, and they didn't want to accept Cao's house so quickly. Simple things, but Li Cong quickly brought them a lot of work, either pruning the road,

Either some reservoirs or something, and some huge warehouses, the people of Cao's Commercial Bank will always bring you some jobs, you can pay with food, you can also use silver, anyway. Just let you work with peace of mind. Eminem is an obvious example of these people. He can be said to be a typical example of a person who is full and the whole family is not hungry. My parents don’t know where they are. , I don’t know where I came from. I grew up begging for food on the street since I was a child. I never thought that I can eat enough every day. I have lived for decades. This is the first time that such a thing has happened. He was captured here by the troops of Cao's House when he was begging for food. Those of his own partners, as long as they had health problems, were sent to another What kind of orphanage is it called? They say that someone will help them, but a strong but incompetent person like myself was dragged here by them. They said that for a day's work, I can give myself three catties of wheat , if I can learn well, after one month, I will have 5 catties of wheat per day. After half a year, I can choose whether I want food or money. It is good to fill one's stomach, and it is good to be able to get this food every day.

He also saw the corvee given by the government before, and he told you well when he asked you to go there, what is this duke’s or that duke’s garden, etc., as long as you do it well, the adults will definitely It will not lose your money, what is the result? I'm so tired that I'm dying every day, but I can only get a piece of noodles every day as something to satisfy my hunger. This kind of life is really uncomfortable. At the beginning, many people didn't believe it, including him. I also think so. Although the people from Cao’s House belong to dukes and lords, they can defeat those gentlemen in the Southern Empire. This ability is not something ordinary people can have. Let’s take a look at their Promise, it seems that they are much stronger than those people. Dozens of them are still waiting and watching. When they brought dozens of carts of grain, Eminem stopped hesitating. This might be an opportunity for him. , In fact, I don't want to be a beggar every day, but I have no choice. I don't have the ability, and if I want to do other things, no one will let me do it. It is because of this that he feels that this is an opportunity. He can do things like coolies. He has been doing one thing for the past few days, which is to carry some powdery things from the car. Come down, then mix it with sand and water, the rest is nothing for me, those people will take it to the road there by car, I have never seen such a thing before Yes, this thing looks like mud. I also asked my own captain. But he said that this thing is used to build roads, to build a dirt road? This is Eminem's daily question mark.

It can be said that there are many people who have doubts like him, but the side that has been repaired said that they can go and have a look at it tomorrow, and these people from Cao's House of Commerce are also true. Why can't I go today. Have to wait until tomorrow. But they all know that it is said that the newly created road is called a road, and the top is very hard. Don't say that the carriage is crushed, even if it is smashed down with a hammer or something, there will be no problems, and they are all excited because of this. Forget it, anyway, tomorrow Then you can see what’s going on there. Eminem has entered his dream with his own doubts. Although it’s the work shed arranged on the construction site, it’s the first time he has his own quilt. As mentioned above, as long as It's a month of work, and these quilts and luzi are all my own. It's really good to work here. Not only will I have a lot of food, but I can also have a lot of things for myself. A lot, what are you talking about, if you do it for one year, you will become a skilled master in the future, and your salary can be doubled, but you have to go to work elsewhere, otherwise the money is not yours , the few people who work with me are from this locality, and they all have to worry about some things at home. Besides, those places far away have never been heard of, so naturally they can't just go there , no one knows what it looks like outside, but this is just the idea of ​​those people, it has nothing to do with me, I am just one person, anyway, no matter what you do, there is nothing for me here If you want to be nostalgic for a little bit, you must continue to work with the people from Cao's House.

The next morning, Eminem was woken up by several people in his room. It was just dawn at this time, and the few of them had already started to go over there to see what was going on there. Eminem Naturally, I also want to know what is going on with this legendary very hard road. After all, I have been thinking about this problem for several days. How could the mud become hard? Some houses in the village are also made of soil. Although it is much better than mud, but relying on your own strength, if you really step up, the wall will not be able to withstand it. Amu and the others When we arrived, dozens of people had already seen it. The first impression was that the road is really flat. Although it has not yet reached the acceptance standard on the earth, it is already the best ever on this planet. Of course, those good stones in the palace are naturally much better than this one, but the bluestone paved road in the capital is nothing compared to the one in front of you, nothing good , basically like that, when they tried it quietly with their feet, the horseless carriage over there was already ready, the carriage of Cao's House was different from other carriages, others All the carriages in Cao’s house have two wheels, but all the carriages of Cao’s House are four-wheeled, that’s why they pull more things, and four horses are needed to pull them. After waving the whip, the four horses in front started to run with difficulty, and the people around quickly got out of the way, and they all looked at the groom in surprise, did this guy have a problem with his nerves? How could such a thing be done?

They can all see that the goods on the carriage must be at least thousands of pounds, or even heavier. If you go at a slow speed, it should be no problem, but now you are so fast on the road. If there is a small hole, the whole car may be destroyed. Everyone knows this kind of thing, but what they thought did not happen. The carriage passed by like a gust of wind, and there were still more than a dozen carriages Well, if this was the kind of road they used to be, the dust they raised would probably have pushed them back several meters, but now the things they thought about didn't happen at all. The carriage ran a few hundred meters before starting to slow down, because the roads are not that long. If it is really very long, it is estimated that the horse can run to the city over there. This speed is the first time they have seen it. Yes, in the past even those who rode wildly could not reach such a speed. The quality of the road is also very important to the horse. A good road can make the horse run farther Yes, Eminem and the others quickly climbed up to touch the road in front of them, my goodness. It turned out to be nothing. The thing that was so heavy just now did not leave any traces. What kind of road is this ****? How can it be so powerful? They were all surprised. If such a road was built, they all knew that it would take a day and a night for a horse-drawn carriage to reach the nearby county town. It is estimated that the speed of the carriage just now can be reached within a few hours. It is estimated that it may save a lot of time. The leader just said that in the future, such roads will be everywhere. Wouldn't life be much more convenient in the future?

"Hehe. Alright, let me tell you, what are you all doing? You all have to work today. This thing was rare when it first came out. If I really ask you to come and see it in the future, I guess you Those who don’t want to look at this stuff, just tidy up and get ready to start. It’s said above that this is a miracle. You are the ones who made the miracle. History will record your coming. When you get old At that time, it is estimated that this road will be fine, and at that time someone will talk about who pruned this road, and that time will be your glorious moment." A guy who looked like a supervisor came over and said, his amiable appearance was not at all It's not the kind of vicious supervisor. There is no such thing as beating people on this road, but there are also regulations. You will do a certain amount of work in a day. If you can't reach this number, you will be deducted. Salary, of course, if you can do better, we can also give you some more money, this can all fluctuate up and down, of course, in order to allow these people to have enough rest time, beyond working hours That time is limited to two hours. After two hours, no matter how much you do, you won’t get any wages. Hearing the supervisor say that, they are all excited. That's right, the common people around don't even know what they're doing, many people want to come over to see what's going on, but they don't have such good luck, what we do is still very superior My son, I have my own food, and I still like this job, so I just go to work quickly, and the rest will not be so lucky.

This is just a microcosm of all the construction sites, because there is no machinery in this era, so even if the cement comes out, it has to be paved by hand. Things are not very qualified, but people here don't have so many requirements. Besides, some carriages on the road are not as heavy as those trucks on the earth, so naturally they will not be overweight. The car crushed the road, so these things are still done very well. Amu returned to the place where he worked yesterday, and the road on his side was still covered. It is said that It wasn't very hard yet. He looked at the cement and other things he had made. He had to work hard. After a while he gained trust here, he could go there to learn how to build roads Well, at that time, if I was transferred to some new department, I would be able to get promoted, and then I would work with the people of Cao's House, and I didn't have any relatives anyway, and I would be even less good at those skills. Learning to build roads is also a very good thing according to what the supervisor said. In the future, there are still many places where you need to build roads. It can be regarded as a technical job for yourself. It is not a coolie like now. Here, this guy is even more motivated. He must let himself stay here. There are quite a few people who think like him. Most of them are the bottom of the previous society, and they don't want to That way, it's just because they lost at the starting line in the early stage, and now they have a chance to make up for it, and they will never give up this opportunity.

Now Li Cong started construction in 15 places on the 40,000km construction site at the same time, and each place has established a large cement plant with an annual output of 300,000 tons. Anyway, things like cement factories are available as long as they are suitable, and the total output can already reach one million tons. Cement is not enough at all. It is okay to look at cement factories now, but it will not be used much in the future, so at the beginning of the first phase, Li Cong also started the selection of the second batch of cement factories. It is not difficult to choose these places. It's just the shipping that's an issue. The amount of cement needed for road construction is definitely not a small amount. A car can only transport more than two tons now. What can these two tons of cement do? It's almost enough to make the road two meters longer, and that's why. Choosing a suitable address is even more important. Another thing is to fetch water. This place is not the same as on the earth, just get some well-drilling team to solve the problem, and there are not so many geological exploration teams here. Even if they have, they have never investigated here before, and it is impossible to find the location of groundwater. Although the local people have places to drink water, generally speaking, some water sources are not very rich. In some places, if their own domestic water is still acceptable, but if it is used in such a large-scale project, this water is not very enough, so now the first thing Li Cong has to solve is the water problem. But this is also a problem for the second issue, but the first issue is okay.

For Li Cong to make such a big plan, the high-level inside Cao's Commercial Bank also felt that it was not very feasible. Of course, everyone can understand the financial matters. Although the cost is very huge, but It can still be solved for the current Cao's House of Commerce, especially since these people are still a large number of slaves sent by the Western Empire. The waste of Cao's House of Trade is to send them all to various places, and the rest It’s not a big deal. Wu Zuoxi feels that it is possible to build roads, but there is no need to make such a big one. People from the Cao’s Commercial Company used this kind of cement before, but they were all used to build some military facilities. It will only be used. At the beginning, I thought that such a thing was a high-end product, and it was impossible to use it on such a large scale. Now I feel that such a high-end product is not very advanced, that is, this It looks like it, but some of the military defense products built by this thing are very good. There was once a cement fortress that was besieged by 2,000 people from the Southern Empire for nearly three days. Four soldiers in three days killed it. It is a good thing that the Southern Empire army of about 150 people prevented the Southern Empire from quickly sending reinforcements to the front line. At that time, the people of the Southern Empire wanted to get this thing, but After they get it, they won't mass-produce it, so this plan will come to nothing at the end. In fact, if the people of the Southern Empire continue to study, it is estimated that there will be their own hope within a few decades. , because this thing is not some high-tech product, but they don't have that kind of perseverance, and they are really not very good at research.

Gu Xin is the person in charge of this plan, but from the bottom of his heart, this plan is too huge. At the beginning, he thought it was a sign that Li Cong was going to neglect him. After all, he let himself manage thousands of people. Wan's slave, don't you think that you are what you are? It is simply useless. You must know that I was in charge of the training camp in the past. Those fifth-level fighters quickly joined the troops of Cao's House at all levels after they came out. They were all middle and senior officers. , it is not comparable to the current one at all, and because of this reason, he did not feel how important this matter was at the beginning. Li Cong personally said a few words to this guy, which meant that Cao's firm's plan for the next few years Basically, it has something to do with this. I want all the land occupied by Cao’s Commercial Bank in the Southern Empire to be our own. Apart from the previous minimum living allowance policies, this is the current road construction plan. All of them clearly know that the people of the Southern Empire will never give them a chance. As long as there is a little bit of slack, the people of the Southern Empire will definitely take all these things back without hesitation. Well, none of them are fools, this is the same as a cancerous tumor, and the people of the Southern Empire want to get rid of the cancerous tumor on their bodies. If you can't take it down, your body may become a waste because of this cancer. At that time, it is impossible for you to regret it. Although the Southern Empire is not very strong now, their moods are all capable. I understand it, and it is all clear, so Li Cong has to quickly build such a road. As long as there is any problem on the border, support from all over the country can quickly pass by.

The Southern Empire was surprised that the people from Cao's House did this. They were the same as the people from the other three empires. After the people of Cao's House gathered so many slaves, they began to investigate this matter. In fact, none of the people in the Cao’s House of Commerce concealed this matter. They knew that the cement in the Cao’s House of Commerce was very valuable. Before the news was clear, the senior officials of the four empires They all feel very happy, because this guy Li Cong has something to do. As long as this guy has something to do. Many things will be much better in the future. At least there is no need to guard against them all the time. There will be some roads in the empires of various places, but the longest road is the 400-kilometer road in the capital of the Eastern Empire. Who knew that the people from the Cao’s House of Commerce traveled 40,000 kilometers, which is a hundred times that of the Eastern Empire. It is undeniable that the people from the Cao’s House of Commerce can spend more money than the people from the Eastern Empire, but what about other things? How did he do it? Is such a path so easy to accomplish? If this is okay, they will all re-evaluate the capabilities of Cao's House, but when the news comes, they will know that what the people in Cao's House did is different from what they thought. I don't mean to use bluestone slabs. Such things can no longer keep up with other people's pace. People use that kind of cement. What they used to say is very expensive, but now it can be produced on such a large scale. Yes, such a thing made them feel impossible, but this is another fact, and there is no way for them to do such a fact, and they will not stop it.

If the people from Cao's House were doing other things, they could still go out and interfere, but what they are doing now is building roads within their own range, and no one can stand up and say anything, especially the people from the Southern Empire , They are the most depressing thing. When signing the treaty before, it was said that the right to build roads is the same reason now. Many times these things are not so simple. This road is owned by Cao's House People say that it is to facilitate the lives of ordinary people, but the people of the Southern Empire can see that on the thousands of miles of front, the people of Cao's firm cannot station heavy troops in all places, so they can only be Hoard troops at some points, but if the people of the Southern Empire don't attack these places, what should they do if they go around? They have nothing to do. The people at Cao's House must have seen this potential threat, so they thought of other ways. The first thing they thought of was the road construction. After the road is repaired, the army of Cao's House can go anywhere quickly. In the past, Li Cong also thought that as long as there were airships, it could be supplied, but after a war with the Western Empire, Li Cong did not Feeling that these things are so easy to do, now he understands that things are not as simple as he thought, and the traffic in other places can't be controlled for the time being, but there is still no problem within the scope of his rule. Just treat this as an experiment. If the 40,000km road can be built quickly, Li Cong will have 400,000, 4 million or even 40 million km of roads to build in the future.

In fact, since the people of the Southern Empire discovered the actions of the Cao's House of Commerce, they have already used a lot of small tricks for the people of the Cao's House of Commerce, but unfortunately none of their actions have worked. When you want to incite the common people to make trouble, some ordinary people will kill them with a word and go back. When we followed you, we had nothing. Even the problem of eating was not solved for us. How do your officials live? , eat ours, drink ours, and finally did not treat us as human beings, but after the people from Cao's House came, they felt different. They not only gave us food and drink, but also found a lot of food for us. Work, have you all done this? They really didn't do it, don't say you haven't fought a war yet. If we really want to change our current life, we will be the first to stand up against you. Why don't they go to the former officials and landlords? These people should all support our Southern Empire, because in the past, we did not give you any less benefits. Now that the Cao’s House of Merchant has occupied this place, you are not living a good life. You should support us. , But unfortunately, they guessed wrong again, these people didn't want to go back to the time when the Southern Empire ruled. There's simply too much to do to get back to that time. Do we have the guts to do it? That's impossible, we don't have the guts, just look at the people in our family and you should know, didn't we get up and struggle at the beginning? But at that time, when we had trouble, there would be no one of you. To put it bluntly, they treat us as cannon fodder. sorry. We won't be so stupid this time, our heads are the most important thing.

In addition, it is aimed at a large number of southern empires in the occupied area. Li Cong also made relevant regulations. The people everywhere are the best, and the Baojia system established by Li Cong is not bad. This makes some strangers have no foundation for their own survival and want to go to other places It doesn't matter if you go, you can ask the people here to give you a letter of introduction. Although such a thing is easy to get out, it will be investigated when the time comes. Li Cong also told these people and others It is a good thing to open a letter of introduction, but if there is a problem with the person you sent out, it will mean that you don’t want your head. For a while, except for those who hide deeply, other people will not survive. There is no space, because they have only been here for less than a few years, it is impossible to have so much information, and only those senior elaborators can stay, and those other people may be killed Yes, after they knew that they were exposed, they all fled from the territory of Cao's firm one after another. Li Cong didn't have any opinion on their escape, and he didn't kill them all. Of course, there were quite a few of them. It can help us do things. For example, if some people who are not determined are discovered by us, we can give you a new identity and expose you to the Southern Empire, so that you can no longer go back. I can give you some money to let you live with me. Of course, you have to find out all of your top and bottom, and that's the only way to do it. This makes those who think they hide well The detailed work has also come out, and now it can be said that there are still people from the Southern Empire on the territory of Cao's House, but the number is definitely not that many, very few.

The battle between the Eastern Empire and the Northern Empire has begun to escalate. The people of the Northern Empire are not merciless. After the warships of the Eastern Empire retreated, some offices of the Eastern Empire in the Northern Empire were confiscated. The pot was occupied. In fact, the government of the Northern Empire did not think of doing that. It was purely because some officers on the front line were jealous. Do I have a good future for myself? Since the army can’t give me one, I have to fight for one, just like the one in front of me. I have to move them all to my home, otherwise I'm really sorry for myself. At the beginning, the people in the Eastern Empire didn't think that the matter would be such a big mess, so they didn't say anything one by one, and just put the matter away. I hope that the Northern Empire will They made a low profile and stopped looking for this matter. Who knew that apart from stealing money, they actually fell in love with Lihu. The people of the Eastern Empire had already taken a fancy to Lihu, and their naval power was more than enough. They are much stronger than those of the Northern Empire. The Northern Empire is really disrespectful to them. If this is the case, we can teach you a good lesson. The people of the Northern Empire are showing off with a lot of ships. Wandering around Lihu, it seems that this place already belongs to them, but the news from the Eastern Empire also makes them feel that things are not good. More than 3,000 warships of the Eastern Empire have already sailed, and they can still handle this. But then the news turned out to be that those who went out first were the advance troops, and the more than 200,000 ships behind were the main fleet. This shit is too bullying.

There are only 500,000 naval warships in the Northern Empire, and so many of them came from the Eastern Empire at once. Although it took a long journey and it took several years to come here, the people from the Eastern Empire dared to come to this place Come on, they won’t be afraid of this matter. They must have their own supply plan. It turns out that the people of the Eastern Empire have begun to build some supply points in the coastal area. I know that Warcraft rarely go to the seaside. They all like to protrude from the Warcraft Mountains, so it is no problem to build some supply points along the way. The 3,000 warships in front can be said to be for the establishment of supplies. Come on, at that time, the ships behind will be able to deliver supplies to the front line bit by bit, which will also support the front line. Li Cong didn't even think of this matter. I really didn't expect the Eastern Empire The people who are so advanced in thinking can grasp the essence of naval warfare so quickly. Of course, some islands are very important, but seaside cities are also very important, and everyone is not a fool for such things Yes, the Eastern Empire can do it, but can't the Northern Empire do it? In theory, there is no problem, but the financial capacity of the Northern Empire does not allow them to do that, and they are at their doorstep now. If they set up a supply point, wouldn't they be looking far away, so the people of the Northern Empire let it go An opportunity to defeat opponents outside the country, now they can only wait for others to come to their own land to do things, such things are done by those stupid people in the Northern Empire, if it is Li Cong's words , that would never do such a thing, it is simply a fool.

This is why the development of the Northern Empire is different from that of the Eastern Empire. Such a gap cannot be completed in a short period of time, and it may widen in the future, so the last enemy of oneself may be the people of the Eastern Empire. , this is also certain. (To be continued..)