The troubled times in Japan have come, and Yang Cong can finally retire successfully. Just in time, Gu Kexue has made almost the matter of Shi Jian Yin Mine, so the two made an appointment to return to the Ming Dynasty together.

Early in the morning, the group set out with the Ming Navy fleet. Facing the morning glow, Yang Cong stood proudly on the bow. Behind him, Gu Kexue, Yu Dayou, Qi Jingtong and other civil servants stood solemnly, with an extremely luxurious lineup.

At the beginning, everyone didn't say anything, because before Yang Cong could speak, he fell into deep thought at the endless sea, as if he was considering something very important, and everyone dared not disturb the Taishi's thoughts.

I don’t know how long it took, but he finally turned to Gu Kexue and said, “Yu Cheng, please come to Japan to preside over the overall situation. Is there a lot of things about the Ministry of Works going to do?”

Gu Kexue smiled and said, "Qingfeng, don't bury me anymore. Do you still know what material I am? If you want to smel silver mines, I still have a few brushes. If you want to govern the country, I am just a layman. When I was in the Ministry of Works, there was nothing wrong with me. With Mr. Wang and others helping me to take care of me, I don't have to worry about it. It's almost the same as if I am there or not."

Yang Cong smiled and said, "Yu Cheng, it's not good to be too modest. Knowing people and making good use of them is also the way to be an official, and it is also an aspect that officials should pay attention to. In this regard, you are not worse than others. Of course, you cannot throw everything to your subordinates and be a hand-off manager. Sometimes, you have to lead them to innovate and do your best to the development of the Ming Dynasty."

Innovate?

Gu Kexue carefully savored it for a while before he understood the meaning of this fresh word. Problem: Governing the country is not his strength, and he really has no idea about pioneering and innovation.

He said a little embarrassedly: "This, Qingfeng, do you have any ideas?"

Yang Cong was not vague and said directly: "I do have a little idea. The so-called "If you want to be rich, build roads first. Nowadays, the Ming Dynasty is in chaos, especially commercial activities are the key to the development of the Ming Dynasty. Think about it, if the road is not easy to walk, is it difficult for this vendor to do business? If there are roads everywhere, is it very convenient for this vendor to do business?"

If you want to be rich, build roads first?

Is this a common saying?

Gu Kexue has never heard of it, but it is easy to understand this. The road is smooth and it is indeed convenient for vendors to do business.

When it comes to doing business, he is excited again. Their Gu family's business is quite large.

He savored Yang Cong's words a little, and then said with interest: "Well, this is very reasonable. In the past two years, the emperor has been encouraging local governments to build roads and bridges, and this business is indeed getting easier and easier."

When Yang Cong heard this, he wanted to roll his eyes. What is this about?

He said angrily: "I mean, let your Ministry of Works take the lead in building avenues between provinces and major cities. How much does it mean to build roads and bridges in the local area? A magistrate can manage roads within a county, and a magistrate can manage roads within a government. Even if he is a governor, he can only manage roads within a province. Who will manage the interconnection between these roads? The emperor cannot send a governor to manage road construction, so your Ministry of Works must take charge of this matter."

It turned out that this is what it means. Gu Kexue thought about it for a while and then said a little embarrassedly: "This is how vast the territory of the Ming Dynasty is. It is easy to build a road that passes through several provinces, which is thousands or even thousands of miles. It is very expensive to build such a road."

Yang Cong said lightly: "What's wrong with the cost? Is the court still short of this little money now?"

Yes, the tax revenue of the Ming Dynasty court has doubled in recent years. There is no shortage of money for road construction, and you should know that Japan alone can bring 20 to 30 million taels of income to the court in a year.

More importantly, the emperor obeyed the Lord Taishi. As long as the Lord Taishi said to build roads, even if the court had no money, the Emperor would find a way to squeeze out the money for building roads.

Thinking of this, Gu Kexue nodded quickly and said, "Well, I will think carefully after I go back and make a charter."

Yang Cong suddenly asked again: "Do you know what kind of road can be as durable as bluestone road?"

Bluestone roads are the kind of roads built with thick bluestone slabs. This kind of road is indeed durable. Generally, as long as you pay attention to maintenance, it will still be as smooth as new after more than a hundred years.

However, this kind of road usually only appears in the palaces or residences of emperors and generals, or in the very rich and wealthy homes. It is impossible to build a bluestone road, because it is too troublesome to build a bluestone road, and the labor cost alone is very terrifying.

Therefore, although bluestone roads are good, they are not common. Even in places like Beijing, only bluestone roads are inside the imperial city. Except for East and West Chang'an Street, other places outside the imperial city are basically not bluestone roads.

So, is there any road as durable as bluestone roads?

Gu Kexue thought about it carefully, then pondered: "If you want to talk about roads as durable as bluestone roads, there are roads like some main roads in Beijing that are made of gravel mixed with a certain amount of lime and clay, and then solid. As long as this kind of road is solid enough, it can still be as smooth as new as a bluestone road for a hundred years."

Mix gravel with a certain amount of lime and clay, and then solidify it?

Isn’t this similar to the asphalt roads in later generations?

Upon hearing this, Yang Cong nodded without hesitation and said, "Well, this will be used to build new roads in the future."

ah!

Gu Kexue was stunned when he heard this.

This method of road construction is not much easier than that of bluestone roads. Gravel, stirring, and solidity are all very troublesome. The most troublesome process of digging bluestone slabs is to save money, but the labor cost is also not low, so it can be a little cheaper than bluestone roads.

He was stunned for a moment, and then said awkwardly: "This, Qingfeng, this kind of road is not easy to repair. First of all, gravel is a troublesome. The gravel required for road construction is not a little bit. Just smashing large pieces of stone into gravel required for road construction requires a lot of effort. In addition, mixing and solidity are also very difficult, especially solidity. One acre of road surfaces is probably worth dozens of people carrying stone piers to the dungeon for ten days."

Yang Cong really didn't consider these issues, but when Gu Kexue mentioned them, he subconsciously thought of some mechanical equipment from later generations.

He thought about it carefully before patiently explaining: "These problems are easy to solve. For example, gravel, the Ministry of Works now has machines to crush charcoal, sulfur and saltpeter. Gravel is the same, but the machine needs to be made larger. The same is true for mixing. Doesn't the Ministry of Works have a mixer for mixing gunpowder? As long as it is bigger, it can also be used to mix gravel, clay and lime. As for solid road surfaces, we can also make a road roller, just use the front of the Fire Dragon Car, which is heavy enough. Just make the wheel wider and make the entire front of the car into a solid iron wheel about one foot wide. If you roll it all over the way, will the road surface be solid? If it really doesn't work, you can also increase the weight or crush it a few more times."

Can this work?
Chapter completed!