Daming: I, Yang Xian, really govern Yang!

Chapter 16 To get rich, build roads first!
Look at the treasury filled with white snowflakes and silver.

There are as many as 10 taels!

A smile appeared on Yang Xian's face.

This salt price crisis made him make a lot of money.

As for the tragic fate of the nobles in the capital, Yang Xian didn't have any sympathy in his heart. They had brought it all on themselves. Not a single snowflake was innocent in the avalanche.

But now that I have money, I can finally do something.

Economic development determines the superstructure.

And to get rich, build roads first!

The second thing that comes out of the July welfare treasure chest for newbies is asphalt.

Asphalt actually existed in ancient times.

But its actual use in road construction had to wait until modern times.

The "Martial Classics General" written by Zeng Gongliang of the Northern Song Dynasty mentioned that asphalt was a raw material used to make gunpowder.Asphalt was also mentioned in the "Survival Record" compiled by Xia Yunyi in the late Ming Dynasty, and was a tool used by Wei Zhongxian to carry out torture.

"I ordered him to pour asphalt all over his body and beat it with vertebrae. After a while, all his body was peeled off, and his skin looked like a human being."

I just don’t know if this method is used in skinning during the Hongwu period.

During this period, Yang Xian had secretly stored the asphalt taken out of the system in batches into several workshops that had been built before.

If no one asks, just leave it alone.

If anyone asks, they can continue to blame it on the mysterious overseas businessman.

Now that it has just begun, Yang Xian plans to limit the scope of road construction to Yangzhou City, and repair the roads in Fucheng first, just to serve as a model for the entire Yangzhou City.

It's easy to do things when you have money.

Now is not the busy time for farming, there is still more than a month before the autumn harvest.

Yang Xian directly recruited a large number of young and strong labor forces in the city and began to prepare.

Lu Mingyi was involved in many tasks, and he was even directly responsible for some tasks.

Lu Mingyi naturally knew what Yang Xian wanted to do.

"Master Yang, are you planning to build a road?" Lu Mingyi asked.

Yang Xian nodded and said: "The construction of transportation infrastructure can reduce transportation costs, and the flow of people and goods will become easier, thus bringing opportunities to make money. Now Yangzhou City is only a pilot project, and the next step will be promoted to The whole Yangzhou Prefecture.”

"Of course, people's lives will become more convenient and better. After all, the road now becomes dusty when cars and horses pass by, and becomes muddy when it rains."

As expected, Mr. Yang always cares about the people.

Lu Mingyi was extremely moved.

The materials used for road construction at this time were earth, wood and stone.

The soil used is cooked soil, which is to stir-fry the loess used for road paving. This way there will be no insects or grass, which ensures the quality of the soil. For those who are more particular about it, when building roads, they will ask craftsmen to add lime to the roadbed. Then mix the mature soil into the saline-alkali soil in a certain proportion, and finally compact the road surface.

Therefore, he was very puzzled that Yang Xian prepared so much asphalt.

Of course Asphalt Lu Mingyi knew it, but he really couldn't associate asphalt with road construction.

Yang Xian packed all the asphalt stored in the warehouse into barrels, and then had people transport it to the designated location by horse-drawn carriage. The first road to be built was the main road that ran from north to south of Yangzhou City.

Whether it's building a bridge or building a road, it's a big project in this era.

Generally speaking, these activities are organized by the government, which is the so-called official way.Of course, some wealthy businessmen and squires would occasionally show their kindness and spend money to build roads, but in such cases the roads built were extremely short.

After all, building roads costs a lot of money.

No one’s money is brought by the strong wind.For these wealthy businessmen and gentry, all they want is reputation, and that's all they want.

Therefore, public infrastructure construction cannot be separated from the imperial court.

From the dilapidated government offices in Yangzhou City, you can imagine the roads of Yangzhou City.

Even the government office, which represents the face of the government, is in such a state of ruin. How can we expect anyone to build roads?

Is it relying on officials from the former Yuan Dynasty, or is it relying on the so-called resistance rebels who just vote and run away.

Nowadays, Yangzhou's roads are in disrepair. Let's not talk about the alleys. Even the main roads are full of potholes and dilapidated. It's hard to bear to look at the past.

It often happens that a carriage wheel gets stuck in a pit for a long time before it comes out.

It's dusty on windy days, and it's muddy and difficult to walk on when it rains.

Yang Xian saw all this and had long planned to build roads.

The people in Yangzhou City have been suffering from this for a long time. Now that they heard that Yang Xian was going to build a road, they all applauded.

Early in the morning, people spontaneously gathered to watch.

At the beginning, the road construction process was very normal. Yang Xian first asked people to pave the ground with mature soil and then tamp it down.

Next, when the carriages filled with asphalt were pulled out, the people began to be confused.

Asphalt road construction was the first time Pangu opened the world.

Yang Xian was naturally at the scene.

Due to limited conditions, it is naturally impossible to build roads to the same extent as in modern times.

Yang Xian simplified the entire road construction process.

As soon as a tool can be replaced, replace it. If there is really no substitute, Yang Xian uses merit points to redeem it from the system.

Among them are special iron barrels filled with asphalt.

Fortunately, the iron-making technology is already available, and the technology tree has reached this stage, so the merit points spent to redeem it are not many.

After that, Yang Xian found craftsmen in the city and began to modify these iron barrels.

The process to be done is also very simple. First, open an opening on the side of the iron barrel, and then install a smoke pipe.

The next step is to add a simple stove under the iron barrel to add wood for fire and heat the iron barrel.

Finally, a mouth was opened to pour out the hot asphalt, and a matching large-diameter semi-open pipe was also made.

At this time, you have to admire the wisdom of ancient craftsmen.

Yang Xian just told these craftsmen the effect he wanted to achieve, and they were able to restore it to perfection.

As for the rest of the tools and materials, Yang Xian bought them directly if they could be bought in the market.

If you really can't buy it, you can give the idea to these craftsmen and let them make it.

Before and after, it took half a month to prepare.

It's now time to officially build the road.

"Sir, section A has been completely filled and compacted." A subordinate came forward to report.

Yang Xian nodded.

In order not to affect people's daily travel, Yang Xian divided this main road running from north to south into three sections for construction.

"Let the second and third teams continue the repair work on sections B and C. The first team started clearing section A, politely asked the people to leave the scene, and at the same time used wooden fences on both sides of the road to separate them. The boundary line next to it will also be paved with pebbles for distinction." Yang Xian gave the order in a leisurely manner.

(End of this chapter)