Chapter 220 Infrastructure Construction

After the demise of the Xian Qin Dynasty, the Yan Han Dynasty, as its successor, naturally learned the lessons of the previous dynasty's demise. After the founding of the country, it adopted a series of policies such as "light taxes and levies, and giving the people a rest". In addition, the extensive use of iron farm tools led to a significant development in agricultural production. After the increase in grain production, large-scale granaries were also built.

During the Han Dynasty, granaries were mainly divided into Changping granaries and Yi granaries.

Among them, Changping Warehouse is the most important, and it is an important regulatory means for the government to intervene in the grain market.

For example, when the harvest was good, the government would buy a large amount of grain at a price higher than the market price to prevent the low grain price from hurting farmers. When the harvest was bad, the government would sell a large amount of grain at a price lower than the market price to suppress the rise in grain prices, prevent famine, and effectively maintain social stability and harmony to avoid disasters and unrest.

In Yanzhou today, Xu Si has formed cliques and called on the aristocratic families in Yanzhou to monopolize the grain market together. They have been raising grain prices by artificially limiting sales in order to create trouble for Wang Jing. This is because they know that Yanzhou's warehouses and charity warehouses no longer have enough grain in stock, so they are fearless and think they have a sure win.

If Wang Jing is willing to use force to deal with these people, he can certainly solve the problem, but the nature of the problem will change as it will be tantamount to destroying the foundation of his own rule.

Therefore, Wang Jing did not choose to use force directly. Instead, he transferred a large amount of grain from the four counties of the capital and used the massive amount of grain to dump in Yanzhou, which greatly reduced the price of grain and made Xu Si and others lose all their money.

You know, growing crops also has costs, and Xu Si and others who have no advantage in terms of yield have no competitive advantage at all against Wang Jing, who has powerful weapons such as improved grain varieties, soil and fertilizers, and can only fail and die.

Even the economic losses alone were not enough. In order to severely strike down these stubborn people who refused to obey the king, Guo Jia directly suggested to Wang Jing: "My lord, maybe you can recruit the people in the name of building roads and cut off their roots."

The aristocratic families may be wealthy and powerful, but their real foundation has always been three things: land, food and population.

Guo Jia's strategy was aimed at the population whose information was concealed by the aristocratic families and wealthy clans.

One of the key points of Wang Jing's new policy reforms was the abolition of the head tax, which meant that taxes and labor service would no longer be levied based on the number of adults as before.

The imperial court has now changed the tax standards to be based on land output and economic benefits. The establishment of the new policy has eased the pressure on the people and increased the burden on the aristocratic families and wealthy clans.

For Wang Jing, it was the end of the dynasty anyway, and the people who had lost their land were already poor and destitute, and not much money could be squeezed out even if they were squeezed dry.

On the contrary, the wealthy and powerful families in various places own large amounts of land and wealth, control a large amount of means of production, and are extremely rich.

Wang Jing thought about it and felt that Guo Jia's plan was good: "This is a good idea. Feng Xiao is indeed a genius. You have come up with such a sinister idea."

Guo Jia laughed out loud, not thinking that there was anything wrong with what he did. Instead, he said with great pride: "Evil will be dealt with by evil. To deal with evil, of course, we have to use such insidious means to be effective."

In the past, when the imperial court built roads, in order to save money, it would directly conscript strong men from the people and force them to perform labor service.

However, Guo Jia's strategy was obviously not like this. Instead, he spent money or directly used grain as wages to attract people to come and work.

At that time, whether it is secretly counting these people or controlling them by building roads and distributing food, it will be of great benefit to Wang Jing's further control of Yanzhou.

Wang Jing agreed with Guo Jia's suggestion, so he made the decision without hesitation: "The most important task next is to build a road from Luoyang to Changyi as soon as possible."

"highway?"

This term is a modern word and did not exist during the Han Dynasty.

Therefore, Xun You and Guo Jia were confused and had to ask Wang Jing: "My lord, what is the difference between this highway and the post road?"

The post road was a thoroughfare where post stations were set up in ancient China. It was the main land transportation route in ancient times and also an important military facility, mainly used for transporting military food and supplies and delivering military orders and intelligence.

But in Wang Jing's opinion, this kind of road is too simple. Only a few important sections are paved with stone slabs or gravel, while other sections are basically just compacted soil with poor durability.

Especially when it rains, the roads will immediately become muddy, seriously affecting the marching speed and transportation efficiency.

Since Wang Jing wanted to build a road, he naturally wanted to build the best one, at least it wouldn't break down after a few days of use.

"The road I want to build will use cement, and at least six horses can pass through at the same time. It will be smooth and flat, and can be used quickly even in heavy rain."

This description, just expressed in words, made Xun You and Guo Jia astonished.

They were all familiar with military affairs and knew that once the road Wang Jing mentioned was successfully built, its strategic value would be immeasurable.

Such a road not only means that goods from Luoyang can be transported to Yanzhou in large quantities for sale, thus promoting the economic development of both places, but also means that Wang Jing can use this road to quickly deploy troops, greatly strengthening the effective control over the entire Yanzhou.

Guo Jia was very curious: "Cement, what is this?"

Xun You, who knew the wonderful uses of cement, had a sour look on his face after hearing this: "My lord, isn't it too extravagant to use cement to build such a road?"

The Rencheng camp is heavily fortified.

Guo Jia picked up a handful of dry grey powder at a corner of a completed wall and said in amazement: "Is this cement?"

The cement in his hand was in the form of grayish-white powder and looked unremarkable, which made Guo Jia wonder whether this thing was really as magical as Xun You said.

Seeing Guo Jia's doubtful expression, Xun You took him to a wall that had already dried and said, "This wall is made of cement and blue bricks. Take a look for yourself."

Guo Jia took a small hammer and knocked along the way, his eyes shining: "It is so seamless, a needle can't be inserted, it is as solid as a rock, it is really incredible!"

In this era, the effect of cement as an adhesive is naturally astonishing. It can be dried and solidified in a day or two. It is simply a Taoist magic on a large scale!

In fact, since the Zhou Dynasty, a kind of lime has been used as a substitute for "three-in-one soil" composed of lime, clay and sand, and has been widely used by Chinese construction craftsmen in engineering construction.

These three things are mixed with water in proportion and used in construction. After drying, they are still quite solid.

But the effect is far inferior to that of cement, and it is very troublesome to use. It must be specially mixed by craftsmen who master the corresponding technology before it can be used.

It's not like cement, anyone can use it skillfully with just a few hands-on instruction.

Most importantly, cement dries quickly and is more resistant to damage.

Wang Jing smiled and explained to Xun You and Guo Jia: "In fact, the production cost of cement is not high. After the production process improved by Master Xuanming, the efficiency and output have been greatly improved compared to before."

The original cement was expensive, mainly because the output was too low, so it could only be concentrated in key military buildings and was difficult to use for civilian purposes.

And now, Shi Zimiao is vigorously promoting the alchemy technique modified by Wang Jingmo in Luoyang, and there are more and more factories producing cement. Many of the Taoist children who followed Shi Zimiao have grown up and have studied "Inorganic Chemistry" for a year, and can barely become masters.

Except for keeping a few smart students to continue their studies, Shi Zimiao sent all the other students out to open factories and make money for himself.

Investing in technology and making money without doing anything, this old guy is living a very good life now. He is even too lazy to study the elixir of life. He just thinks every day about how to transform the knowledge in "Inorganic Chemistry" into practical technology so that he can make money and enjoy himself.

Under the encouragement of Shi Zimiao and Ge Lu, a group of Taoist monks who were originally obsessed with alchemy have now become believers of chemistry, thinking about what to burn all day long to unlock the mysteries of the world.

The discipline of chemistry also achieved rapid development thanks to the efforts of Taoist Qigong practitioners such as Shi Zimiao. Its influence gradually complemented that of Mohist physics, and it became famous in the world and became a prominent discipline in the capital.

Although Confucianism is still the most prominent school of thought in the eyes of the aristocratic families, its foundation has been shaken by the Taoism of chemistry and the Mohism of physics.

After all, for many people, learning the Four Books and Five Classics well does not necessarily lead to becoming an official, but learning physics and chemistry well can really make a lot of money.

Wang Jing now has more and more cards in his hand, allowing him to use them as he pleases.

Changyi City, in charge of the Zhonglang Mansion.

Xu Si sat quietly and waited, hoping to get good news.

Soon, Wang Yu, who was anxious, came to ask for an audience: "Wang Jing has opened the Changping Warehouse and started selling grain, and the price is simply..."

Wang Yu was so angry that he was speechless. In ancient agricultural society, the main income of the aristocratic families basically came from selling grain in years of famine to make excess profits.

In order to make money, this group of feudal landlords often ignored the lives of the lower-class people, hoarded goods, and even took advantage of famine in years of disaster, forcing the common people to sell their children to struggle for survival, and implemented bone-sucking exploitation.

Now that Wang Jing has opened the Changping Warehouse, the price of grain has been pushed to the bottom. These people can no longer sit still and are getting anxious.

Xu Si closed his eyes slightly and said nothing.

Wang Yu was so anxious that his mouth was dry. Seeing that Xu Si didn't say anything, he urged him, "You better come up with an idea. If this continues, we will lose everything."

If they sell at the current grain price, they will lose all the money they invested in their coffins.

Xu Si opened his eyes and said in a cold tone: "Let's talk about it after the others arrive."

"Ugh……"

Wang Yu said nothing more and sat there waiting patiently.

After a while, Wang Kai, Xu Xi and others arrived one by one.

Xu Si then spoke: "I think everyone is aware of the current situation, right?"

Xu Xi was still as hot-tempered as ever, and he yelled, "Selling grain at a fair price at this time, Wang Jing is clearly trying to cut off our livelihood! In my opinion, we should just find someone to burn down Baimajin. Then I want to see how the court will transport the subsequent grain to Yanzhou!"

Some people were even more radical, and were so desperate to make money that they shouted, "It's not just Baimajin. Either we don't do it, or we'll burn down the Changping Warehouse as well. When the time comes, the imperial court will have no grain to sell, so won't they just be at our mercy?"

Wang Kai, who wanted to make money through peace, shook his head and suggested, "Why don't we just spend money to buy the grain from Changping Warehouse? It's better not to conflict with Wang Jing directly."

Burning the Changping Warehouse is a serious crime that will lead to the confiscation of property and extermination of the entire clan

They dared to do so in the past because Liu Dai was a useless person. He had no control over the situation in Yanzhou and it was difficult for his decrees to leave Puyang City.

But Wang Jing is not Liu Dai. The Northern Army’s military strategists are sharp, and the Huangyu Lie Dao can really kill people!

"There is one more thing that you may not know yet..."

Xu Si waited for everyone to express their opinions before he told them the news he had gathered: "Wang Jing plans to build an official road from Luoyang to Yanzhou."

"Hmm? Isn't there already an official road? Why bother with this?"

After Qin Shihuang swept across the six kingdoms and unified the country, he built roads on a large scale.

Among them was the Eastern Road, a highway that went directly from Xianyang to Qingzhou. It had double wooden tracks that allowed horse-drawn carriages to travel a hundred miles a day. Luoyang and Yanzhou were connected by the Eastern Road.

Xu Si sighed: "The Chidao is exclusive to Zulong. Although it is fast, it is not terrible. The road that Wang Jing wants to build is completely different."

Afterwards, Xu Si informed Wang Yu and others of the detailed details of the cement highway.

Obviously, the road that Wang Jing wanted to build was incredibly wide, smooth and flat, and not affected by heavy rain. With the help of four-wheeled carriages, the army could be quickly transferred, and its strategic significance was more than nine streets away.

Wang Yu and the others naturally knew how serious this was, and they all took a deep breath: "Once this road is built, it will be a smooth journey from Luoyang to Yanzhou. In a few days at the fastest, tens of thousands of troops can arrive at lightning speed. By then, where will we be able to stand?"

The more convenient the transportation is, the less likely it is that local separatist forces will form. Since ancient times, if local areas want to resist the control of the imperial court, they must rely on geographical advantages, preferably relying on mountains and rivers to form a large geographical isolation.

Otherwise, the road is unobstructed and the heavenly troops will arrive at any time. Who would be so stubborn as to stand up and confront the court head-on?

When Xu Xi heard that Wang Jing wanted to build a road, he flashed a fierce look in his eyes: "We must not let Wang Jing build this road successfully!"

Such a Liuda Avenue poses a huge threat to Yanzhou.

The reason why aristocratic families can dominate a region and even form a separatist trend is because of inconvenient transportation.

Once the imperial army can be quickly transferred and deployed, how can they bargain with Wang Jing?

Therefore, even for the sake of self-protection, they had to sabotage Wang Jing's road construction project so that it could not proceed smoothly, and it would be best if the entire project was ruined.

Compared with road construction, selling grain from the Changping Warehouse is just a trivial matter.

In the winter of the third year of Chuping, Zhai Jie, the magistrate of Pingyin County, was summoned by Wang Jing to Changyi City.

Afterwards, Wang Jing entrusted him with an important task and submitted a memorial to the court, appointing Zhai Jie as the Chief Architect, in charge of the civil engineering construction of palaces, ancestral temples, mausoleums, etc., with a rank of two thousand stones.

When the news of this move was reported back to Luoyang, it caused an uproar in the court and the public, simply because Zhai Jie's promotion to this position represented the successor of the Mohist school, who had officially entered the center of power and represented the revival of the school.

The Confucian scholars were all heartbroken, but they could do nothing about Wang Jing.

Changyi City, the official residence of the governor.

Zhai Jie bowed to Wang Jingxing with great respect and said, "My Lord, the Mohist family is deeply grateful for your kindness in rescuing us, and we will repay you with our lives."

"Haha, that's too much. Why would I want Mo Zhe's life? If you really want to repay me, then work hard and achieve something."

Wang Jing was in a good mood, although many civil and military officials in the court opposed Wang Jing's appointment of Zhai Jie and his emphasis on Mohism, including Wang Jing's political ally and father Wang Yun in the core of the court.

Wang Yun was not opposed to the promotion of Mohism. He was just worried that this move would cause fierce opposition from the gentry, thus causing the situation that had just been calmed down to be disturbed again.

But obviously, he failed to convince Wang Jing.

For Wang Jing, the more the enemy opposes something, the more he has to do it.

He never intended to compromise with the diehards among the aristocratic families. Any concessions to these stubborn conservative forces would be meaningless. They would only take advantage of him and make further demands.

So Wang Jing took a tough stance and forcibly appointed Zhai Jie as the Chief Engineer, and then asked him to use his professional knowledge to promote some large-scale infrastructure projects.

Wang Jing was not interested in projects such as palaces, temples and tombs, but he was very interested in buildings that could generate economic benefits, such as building roads, digging canals, and constructing ditch irrigation facilities.

Therefore, after calling Zhai Jie over, he immediately assigned him a task: "The situation in Yanzhou is not stable at the moment. I plan to build a cement road from Luoyang to Changyi to speed up the flow of materials and personnel between the two places. This is the specific requirement. You must first conduct engineering surveying and mapping, then prepare the design drawings, and then proceed with construction."

In Wang Jing's plan, this road must be able to accommodate six horses or three carriages at the same time. It must pass through important cities such as Dingtao, Puyang, Chenliu, Baima, and Xingyang along the way. It is like an artery that can continuously transport blood, completely connecting Luoyang and Yanzhou.

Just after hearing this idea, Zhai Jie estimated how huge this project was. Even if the whole country was mobilized to build it, it would cost a huge amount of money and grain, and mobilize a huge amount of manpower.

If Wang Jing had not brought out the cement, it would have taken more than 100,000 laborers ten years to build just this road. If any natural disasters or man-made disasters occurred during this period, it might have turned into a new "Daze Township Uprising."

But now that he has cement, Zhai Jie is confident that he can complete the entire project within two years, and it will save a lot of manpower and materials.

It just so happened that what Wang Jing had the most at the moment was manpower. Among the millions of Yellow Turban Army from Qingzhou that surrendered, the old and weak who were laid off were not a big deal if they were kept idle all day long. So he could just use these people to build bridges and roads and engage in infrastructure construction.

Moreover, Wang Jing was going to allocate a sum of money to recruit local workers in Yanzhou in order to break the personal dependence and control of the Yanzhou aristocratic families over the tenants.

After all, if working can support a family of three, who would be willing to work as a tenant for a landlord?

(End of this chapter)