Chapter 850 Don’t Forget, This Place Is My Fiefdom! Sure Enough, How Could It Be that Simple!

This sentence made Zhao Cheng and other ministers all confused.

It makes sense!

Even though Ying Chengjiao developed water mills and water pestles, which greatly increased the speed of refining cement, the manpower and time spent in the material preparation stage still far exceeded the requirements of Daqin's road construction.

Because the soil and stones used in Daqin's road construction only need to be burned once with a fierce fire, basically no manpower is required.

Since Ying Chengjiao wasted so much manpower and time in the material preparation stage, where did Ying Chengjiao save manpower and time?

There is no doubt that it was during the construction process!

After Zhao Cheng was stunned for two breaths, he asked in surprise: "If the soil layer is not compacted but the slurry is directly poured, how can this road not sink!"

Ying Chengjiao asked back: "The road from Lantian Workshop to Lantian Ferry, all my colleagues have seen it with their own eyes."

"What do you think of the quality of that road?"

Zhao Cheng was speechless!

Zhao Cheng's experience told him that if the hard soil layer was not compacted all the time, rain and vehicles would cause the road to sink, deform, and even become unwalkable.

But the actual judgment of the cement road from Lantian Ferry to Lantian Workshop told Zhao Cheng that even if the heaviest bronze chariot of the Qin Dynasty passed through that road, it would probably be difficult to damage the road!

The direct conflict between past experience and actual situation made Zhao Cheng want to refute but he didn't know how to refute at all!

Ying Chengjiao spread his hands and said: "I didn't build the road without compacting the roadbed, but I only compacted one layer."

"Besides! What I built was not a highway!"

"I just paid for it myself, recruited strong men in my own fiefdom, and built a road in my own fiefdom for the convenience of transporting materials for my own workshop."

"It's enough for me to use and cheap enough, why do you think so much!"

These words directly silenced the ministers.

Why did they go to see Ying Chengjiao's full production line for refining cement?

Why are they here to watch the workers build the Changlan Avenue?

The fundamental reason is not that the cement road is more favored by the ministers, but that the ministers all think that Ying Chengjiao has spent a huge price for this road and suspect that Chang'an Junfu is now on the verge of bankruptcy, but Ying Chengjiao is stubborn and refuses to accept Ying Zheng's reward!

So, is the quality of the cement road built by Ying Chengjiao important?

As Ying Chengjiao said, this is Ying Chengjiao's fiefdom!

Ying Chengjiao has the right to pave the road with gold, silver, copper and iron, let alone cement!

Unless Ying Chengjiao's actions anger the people, resent the people, or even cause unrest, which has a negative impact on the Qin Dynasty, otherwise Ying Chengjiao can repair it as he wants, and it has nothing to do with the court.

The key point is whether Ying Chengjiao built the road with only hundreds of people and two months as he said!

Ying Zheng said ashamedly: "Your brother has wronged me, and I apologize to you!"

Ying Chengjiao smiled and waved his hand: "My elder brother is worried about me, and I don't want you to worry about me. Today's matter is just that."

"If my elder brother is really ashamed, you can choose a virtuous person to serve as the Minister of the Ministry of Finance!"

Ying Zheng changed the subject abruptly: "My elder brother, if you build this... cement road in this way, how long will it take to repair it?"

Ying Chengjiao glared at Ying Zheng helplessly, then shook his head and said: "This road is different from the rammed For dirt roads, repair whatever is broken. "

"Moreover, this road cannot last forever like rammed earth roads as long as it is properly repaired. "

"I think this road should last for more than ten years."

"If it is repaired in time, it may last for twenty or thirty years."

"As for how long it can last, we still have to wait until it is successfully built before observing."

Although the heaviest chariot of the Qin Dynasty weighed only more than half a ton, which was only equivalent to the weight of an old man's car, the pressure that the road surface had to withstand was far less than that of later generations.

But the quality of cement manufactured by Ying Chengjiao was also far inferior to that of later generations. At the same time, Ying Chengjiao had not yet developed the force transmission rods, caulking plates and other components commonly used in paving cement roads in later generations.

So in Ying Chengjiao's opinion, it should not be a problem for this cement road to last for more than ten years. If the dents are repaired and cracks are repaired, it should last for another ten years, but this is already the limit of this road!

Ying Zheng frowned slightly when he heard this: "Can it only last for 20 to 30 years?"

"If my brother digs and rams as deep as he did when building the Great Qin Road, can this road last longer?"

The Great Qin Road also needs to be repaired from time to time, but as long as it is repaired properly, it can be used for hundreds of years!

Although the initial investment is huge, the subsequent benefits will last longer.

Compared with the Great Qin Road, the cement road built by Ying Chengjiao is simply a shoddy project.

Ying Zheng is more or less disgusted!

Ying Chengjiao explained: "Laozi said: Isn't it because of its softness that the tongue survives? Isn't it because of its hardness that the teeth fall?"

"The cement road and the rammed earth road are like the tongue and the teeth."

"The rammed earth road is soft, so it can last long, and the cement road is hard, so it is easy to break."

"Even if it is dug deep and rammed deep, the cement road can only last for a few more years. In the end, it will still break due to cracks in the road surface. It needs to be dug up and re-paved with cement."

Ying Zheng asked back: "In this case, why doesn't the prince build a highway between Chang'an Township and Lantian County?"

"If the prince's family has limited money and grain, you can order the general to recruit corvée labor and allocate money and grain to build this road for the prince!"

Ying Chengjiao shook his head without hesitation and said: "It takes too much manpower and time to build the highway. The current Great Qin is at a critical moment. We should use this manpower and time for more important things."

After a pause, Ying Chengjiao whispered: "And this Lantian workshop is a place for smelting iron and steel. Although most of the vehicles passing through now are carts, and most of the objects they carry are ore materials, there may be many heavy vehicles and objects coming out of this workshop in the future."

"Rammed earth roads cannot support too heavy vehicles and horses, but cement roads can."

"Whether it is for manpower, time or ease of use, cement roads are more suitable for Lantian County Workshop!"

Ying Zheng was a little confused.

For a moment, Ying Zheng couldn't even imagine what the objects that rammed earth roads could not carry would look like.

But this did not affect Ying Zheng's first meaning: "Now is a critical moment for my Great Qin!"

While muttering, Ying Zheng's eyes fell on the workers again, his mind was churning.

Seeing this, Ying Chengjiao said no more, just stood beside Ying Zheng, standing shoulder to shoulder with Ying Zheng.

Under the gazes of the Great Qin monarchs and ministers and the earnest eyes of the Great Qin guards, the five hundred strong men burst out with enthusiasm and strength that even surprised themselves.

Only twenty strong men carried a long and narrow iron plate that was ten feet long, and inserted it at the end of the wooden board, forming a frame structure together with the wooden board.

One shovel of cement after another was thrown into the frame, and it took only more than half an hour to fill the frame completely.

The fifty men who had just compacted and leveled the land hurriedly put on their leather boots, then stepped into the cement pool with pestles in their hands, and beat the cement with the pestles in their hands to remove as many bubbles as possible.

After the fifty men had tamped the cement carefully, six craftsmen wearing leather boots walked into the cement pool with wooden trowels, and scraped the cement surface with the trowels to make it extra smooth.

Then, the craftsmen took new wooden boards and iron plates and rushed to the pits that had been dug in front to continue building the framework.

The fifty men who had just compacted the ground had already moved here and continued to swing the pestles in their hands to level the ground.

The movements of all the craftsmen and men were like standard and precise copy and paste.

Everything, over and over again!

The night faded away, and the morning sun rose.

When the morning light fell on Lantian County, the same movement had been repeated five times by the craftsmen and men, and the sixth time had begun!

Seeing that the cement mixing site had been moved more than ten feet from before, Zhao Cheng finally asked hesitantly: "Is it finished?"

"Does the craftsmen need to do anything else for this fifteen-foot road that has been paved?"

Ying Chengjiao shook his head and said, "How can it be so simple?"

Zhao Cheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Sure enough!

Road construction is not only a physical job, but also a technical job. How can it be done by just tamping, paving, and smearing!

In just one night, five hundred strong men, and ten craftsmen paved a full fifteen-foot road surface. How is this possible!

Ying Chengjiao continued, "From the six hours after the cement is laid, the craftsmen need to keep an eye on whether the cement is moist and maintain it by pouring water every day."

"Maintenance is crucial to the durability of cement roads!"

Zhao Cheng turned his head stiffly to look at Ying Chengjiao, and asked in a louder voice, "Is that all?!"

Ying Chengjiao thought for a moment and said, "If the sun is too hot or the weather is bad, straw mats need to be laid on the road surface."

"At the same time, people should block the surrounding area of ​​this road and not allow any creatures to step on this road!"

Zhao Cheng's voice was a little higher: "Is that all?!"

Ying Zheng and all the court officials also looked at Ying Chengjiao.

Ying Chengjiao thought for a moment and nodded, "That's basically it."

"The rest should be figured out by the craftsmen themselves."

This is all the knowledge Ying Chengjiao knows.

But Ying Chengjiao believes in the wisdom of the craftsmen!

But Zhao Cheng doesn't believe what he sees at all!

Pointing at the already paved cement road, Zhao Cheng could no longer control his voice and asked loudly: "If a 15-zhang road can be paved overnight, 15 miles of road can be paved in just over a month!"

"How could it take Chang'an Jun two months!"

Ying Chengjiao explained seriously: "The maintenance period of the cement road also needs at least 15 days."

When Ying Chengjiao said this, everyone was stunned.

In other words, Ying Chengjiao said that it took two months to build a 15-li road, and there was also a half-month maintenance period?

But maintenance is just a little bit of water, isn't it? How many people can it take!

Ying Zheng suddenly asked: "If this road is paved from Xianyang to Helu City, how much manpower will be needed?"

"If Xianyang City and Helu City can be connected by this road, how long will it take for our Great Qin elite to rush from Xianyang City to Helu City?"