My brother Ying Zheng, who dares to kill me?.

Chapter 850 Don't forget, this place is my fiefdom! Sure enough, how could it be that simple!

With just one sentence, Zhao Cheng and other ministers were stunned.

That makes sense!

Even though Ying Chengjiao invented the water mill and water pestle, which greatly increased the speed of cement refining, the manpower and time required for the material preparation stage still far exceeded what was required for Qin's road construction.

Because the soil and rocks used by the Qin Dynasty to build roads only needed to be burned once with a raging fire, basically no manpower was 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 is in the process of construction!

Zhao Cheng was stunned for two breaths, then asked in surprise: "If we don't compact the soil layer but just pour this slurry directly, how can this road not collapse!"

Ying Chengjiao asked in return: "All my colleagues have seen the road from Lantian Workshop to Lantian Ferry with their own eyes."

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

Zhao Cheng was speechless!

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

However, the actual assessment 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 not damage the road at all!
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, "It's not that I didn't compact the roadbed when I was building the road, I just compacted one layer."

"Besides! What I'm building is not a highway!"

"I only used my own money and food to recruit able-bodied men from my own fiefdom, and built roads within my own fiefdom to facilitate the transportation of materials for my own workshops."

"As long as it's good enough for me and cheap enough, why would you consider it so much?"

These words silenced all the ministers.

Why did they go to see Ying Chengjiao’s entire cement production line?
Why are they here to watch the workers build Changlan Avenue?

The fundamental reason was not that the cement road was more favored by the ministers, but that the ministers all thought that Ying Chengjiao had spent a huge price on this road and suspected that the Chang'an Jun Mansion was now on the verge of bankruptcy, but Ying Chengjiao stubbornly refused to accept Ying Zheng's generous reward of money and food!
So, is the quality of the cement road built by Ying Chengjiao important?

Just as Ying Chengjiao said, this is Ying Chengjiao’s fiefdom!

Not to mention paving the road with cement, even paving the road with gold, silver, copper and iron is Ying Chengjiao's right!
Unless Ying Chengjiao's actions angered the people, resented them, or even caused unrest, causing negative impact on the Qin state, Ying Chengjiao could repair the city however he wanted, and it had nothing to do with the court.

The key point is whether Ying Chengjiao built the road with only a few hundred people and two months as he said!
Ying Zheng said ashamedly: "It was you who wrongly accused me, I apologize to you!"

Ying Chengjiao smiled and waved his hand: "Brother is worried about me, I don't want you to worry about me, today's matter is nothing more than that."

"If you really feel ashamed, you can choose a virtuous person to serve as the Minister of the Imperial Household!"

Ying Zheng changed the subject abruptly: "My brother, if you use this method to build this... cement road, 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 a rammed earth road. We will repair any damaged parts."

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

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

"If it is repaired in time, it may last for 20 to 30 years."

"As for how long it can last, we still have to wait and see after the construction is completed."

Although the heaviest chariot of the Qin Dynasty weighed only a little over half a ton, which was equivalent to the weight of a Laotoule, the pressure that the road surface had to withstand was far less than that of later generations.

However, the quality of cement manufactured by Ying Chengjiao was far inferior to that of later generations. At the same time, Ying Chengjiao had not yet developed components such as force transfer rods and caulking plates that were commonly used in later generations for paving cement roads.

Therefore, in Ying Chengjiao's opinion, it should be no problem for this cement road to maintain for ten years or so. If the dents are repaired and the cracks are patched, it should be able to last another ten years or so. But this is already the limit of this road!
Ying Zheng frowned slightly when he heard this: "Can we only hold on for 20 to 30 years?"

"If my brother digs and rams as deeply as he built the highway, can this road last longer?"

The Qin Dynasty's highways also need to be repaired from time to time, but as long as they are repaired properly, they can be used for hundreds of years!

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

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

Ying Zheng was more or less a little disgusted!

Ying Chengjiao explained: "Laozi said: The reason why the tongue survives is because of its softness. The reason why the teeth disappear is because of their hardness."

"Concrete roads and rammed earth roads are like tongue and teeth."

“Rammed earth roads are soft, so they can last long, while cement roads are hard, so they break easily.”

"Even if it is dug deep and compacted, the cement road can only last for a few more years. Eventually, it will break down due to cracks in the road surface and need to be dug up and re-paved with cement."

Ying Zheng asked, "If that's the case, why don't you build a highway between Chang'an Township and Lantian County?"

"If your brother's family has limited money and grain, you can order the Ministry of Works to recruit laborers and allocate money and grain to build this road for your brother!"

Ying Chengjiao shook his head without hesitation and said, "It will take too much manpower and time to build the highway. The current situation of the Great Qin is critical. 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 wheelbarrows, and the objects they carry are mostly ore materials, in the future there may be many heavy vehicles and objects coming out of this workshop." "The rammed earth road cannot support too heavy vehicles and horses, but the cement road can."

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

Ying Zheng felt a little confused.

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

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

While muttering, Ying Zheng's gaze fell on the workers again, his thoughts churning in his heart.

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

Under the gaze of the Qin emperor and his ministers and the earnest eyes of the Qin guards, the five hundred able-bodied men burst out with energy and strength that even surprised themselves.

Only twenty able-bodied men carried a ten-foot-long narrow iron plate and inserted it at the end of the wooden boards, forming a frame structure together with the wooden boards.

Spadeful of cement was thrown into the frame, and it took only over half an hour to fill it completely.

The fifty strong men who had just compacted and leveled the land hurriedly put on their leather boots, then stepped into the cement pool with rammers in their hands, and pounded the cement hard with the rammers in their hands, trying to knock out as many bubbles as possible.

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

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

The fifty strong 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 strong men were like standard and precise copy and paste.

Everything repeats itself over and over again!
The night fades away and the sun rises.

By the time the morning light fell on Lantian County, the same action had been repeated five times by the craftsmen and strong men, and had already begun to be repeated for the sixth time!

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

"Doesn't the craftsmen need to do anything else for this 15-meter-long road that has already been paved?"

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

Zhao Cheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

really!

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

In just one night, five hundred strong men and ten craftsmen paved a road of fifteen meters. How is it 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 sprinkle water on it every day for maintenance."

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

Zhao Cheng turned his head with a stiff neck and looked at Ying Chengjiao, and asked in a louder voice: "That's all?!"

Ying Chengjiao thought for a moment and said, "If the sun is too scorching or the weather is bad, we will need to lay straw mats on the road."

"At the same time, we should also have people block the area around this road and not allow any living creature to step on it!"

Zhao Cheng's voice became even louder: "That's all?!"

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

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

"The rest is up to the craftsmen to work out for themselves."

This is all the knowledge Ying Chengjiao knows.

But Ying Chengjiao believes in the wisdom of the craftsmen!

However, Zhao Cheng simply didn't believe what he saw!
Pointing at the already paved cement road, Zhao Cheng could no longer control his voice and asked loudly, "If we can pave a 15-zhang road overnight, we can pave a 15-li road in just over a month!"

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

Ying Chengjiao explained seriously: "The maintenance period of cement roads also takes at least fifteen days."

When Ying Chengjiao said this, everyone was stunned.

In other words, Ying Chengjiao took two months to build the fifteen miles of road, which also included a half-month maintenance period?

But maintenance is just pouring some water, isn't it? It can be done with a few people!
Ying Zheng suddenly asked: "If we build this road 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 elite troops of the Great Qin to reach Helu City from Xianyang City?"

(End of this chapter)