People live in the Ming Dynasty, evil spirits are soaring into the sky

Chapter 381 It turns out that the civil officials already knew that the stone bridge could not be built! !

When Sophia received this task, she already knew that this was a conspiracy by the civil servants.

Although she knew it, she could do nothing about it.

Because if the Imperial University of Peking fails to successfully complete its task this time, these civil servants will definitely publicize it.

Look, the Imperial University of Peking, which cost so much money to build, is said to have gathered all the skilled craftsmen in the world.

However, they couldn’t even build a bridge.

Even if the imperial court did not spend so much money to build this school before.

Without spending so much money to recruit so many students, the task of building the bridge could have been completed smoothly.

It can even save a lot of money.

The reason why Sophia felt that this was an open conspiracy was because it was a task that could not be refused.

When Sofia received the news, she asked someone to check and found out that the construction of this bridge was not just something these civil servants said casually.

Because the people on both sides had already reacted more than a decade ago.

The Yongding River is too wide and often floods.

The wooden bridge above can be easily washed away.

Therefore, local people repeatedly reported to the local inspection office, hoping that the court could build a real stone bridge for people on both sides to pass.

The local inspection department has also reported the matter to Wanping County.

Hopefully a real stone bridge can be built.

But this matter has been delayed again and again for some inexplicable reason until now.

The situation on the court's part is really a bit unacceptable right now.

Moreover, the new emperor had just ascended the throne, and building a stone bridge would facilitate travel between the people of the two places.

On the other hand, it was also the new emperor's grace to the people after he ascended the throne.

So this kind of thing has to be done.

Even the emperor himself, or Chen Han, felt that this matter still needed to be done.

So Chen Han used the emperor's voice to tell Sophia.

Sophia also thought it made sense.

She even personally led people to investigate there.

It was discovered that there was indeed a great need for a stone bridge there.

Because that place is actually a hub where the Yongding River is frequently renovated.

The so-called hub is this place where bad luck comes.

Every time the route is changed, this place will have to bear the impact of floods.

It's not because of how important this place is.

But it’s because this place is a curved pond.

Once the front is renovated, water will accumulate in this place, as there is already a lot of water accumulated in this place.

If so much water comes in again, it will easily destroy the wooden bridge on the river.

Because of this incident, people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait complained.

First of all, the construction of a wooden bridge also requires a large amount of manpower and material resources.

Within a few years, the imperial court changed the course of the Yongding River due to its own water needs, resulting in the river being destroyed.

The local people are unwilling to build wooden bridges anymore.

On the other hand, due to frequent diversions, many people walking on the bridge were washed away.

Every household has resentment about this.

If a stone bridge is not built for them as soon as possible, the local people may have to move away.

So considering these things, this stone bridge must be built.

However, building this stone bridge requires a huge investment of manpower and material resources.

Now it has to be completed in just half a year, which is really a challenge.

Sophia looked at the river channel that was more than 20 meters wide. It would take half a year to build a stone bridge. It also had to reflect the craftsmanship of Imperial University and the ability of the students of Imperial University to solve this problem. If it were taken out as a separate research topic, it could take up many classes.

On the day after receiving the task, Sophia convened a meeting with many veteran craftsmen at Imperial University.

Today, 90% of the teachers recruited by Imperial University of Peking are folk craftsmen.

These people are generally local, experienced craftsmen who are knowledgeable, prestigious and have experience.

These people are already very rare, so it is even more rare to get them all together.

After these people came, they immediately started compiling teaching materials.

The preparation of teaching materials has also been completed long ago.

On the one hand, we started teaching according to the basic instruction of carpenters, masons, goldsmiths, etc.

The craftsmen did come to the Imperial University with their own skills, but they did so because they could learn better here.

It’s because what they learned before was not systematic or theoretical.

For many questions, they may never know where this thing came from in their entire life.

Even if they knew, it would take more than ten or twenty years to turn this corner.

The reason why they have to go to school to study now is to teach them this set of theories step by step.

At the same time, craftsmen from all over the world can adapt to the different conditions in different places.

Gather everything you have learned and known, even the local customs and practices, into one school.

Now everyone will know.

It turns out that the density of wood material in each place is different.

The sand and gravel structure is different in each place.

People's weight varies from place to place.

The level of taste appreciation varies from place to place.

In this melting pot-like classroom, everyone can communicate with each other and express their ideas, which is the true value embodied by this university.

Now that such a task has been issued, it can be seen that students from the south are relatively lacking in interest.

They felt that it would be a difficult task to build such a magnificent stone bridge within half a year relying on the Imperial University of Peking.

But it is different for students in the north.

Perhaps students in the north are often affected by floods and the Yellow River overflowing, so they can empathize more with the local people.

So they offered their suggestions one after another.

But no matter what kind of emotion it is, you must take action first and never just talk about it.

The first problem is how to build bridge piers over the turbulent river.

The students from Sichuan quickly thought of the diversion method of Dujiangyan.

In the wide river, first dig a tributary to divert the river water.

Then build a small dam to eliminate water flow on one side or minimize it, and finally build the bridge piers.

After the bridge pier is completed, the same process is continued for the next tributary.

This can ensure that the bridge piers are erected quickly and well.

This method has been unanimously verified by everyone.

The verification method is of course to restore the local river conditions in the laboratory at a ratio of ten to one.

Then we simulated the local water flow and river sand conditions and constructed diversion tributaries.

Then, in the test field, we began to experiment on how to erect piers and build bridges over rivers.

This approach is novel.

This is the model method and experimental method that Sophia learned from her own school and brought here as a new teaching method.

During the deduction, everyone raised various questions.

In response to the problem, we used several methods to solve it. On the one hand, the experimental method can let the participating students know intuitively what kind of situation they will encounter.

On the other hand, and most importantly, reduce unnecessary waste of space.

Of course, Sophia was not idle during the process of making these deductions.

She mobilized the Ministry of Industry and transported all the sand and gravel materials to the local area.

After the deduction was completed, the teachers and students of Imperial University of Peking immediately took action.

When the civil servants saw the actions of the students and teachers of Imperial University, the first thing they did was to ridicule them.

Especially when he saw Sophia leading a large number of students to conduct measurements on the spot, he smiled very happily.

The reason why they felt that the stone bridge was difficult to build was because they were unwilling to build it in the first place.

On the one hand, they are unwilling to spend the money.

The second aspect is that a stone bridge should not be built in this place.

Although there are many people living in that place.

But why do people live there?

Because there is a lot of fertile land on the tidal flats, people will settle down there.

Everyone understood that in order to get food, they should find a fertile place.

But it is hard to imagine that even if the Yongding River had not changed its course, that place would have been frequently hit by floods.

Building a wooden bridge or any other bridge is prone to being washed away.

So the imperial court had actually built wooden bridges on both the upstream and downstream sides of the village from the very beginning.

Those wooden bridges were far away from the Jishuitan, so they would not be destroyed by the water flow, so no stone bridges were built.

Although each bridge was about fifty miles away from them.

But at least it can protect people's lives.

For the sake of convenience, wooden bridges are often built, and everyone can see how many people have been killed and injured.

Sometimes ordinary people really don’t understand why the court does this.

Then we often reported to the higher authorities that we wanted to build a stone bridge.

But they didn't respond to the question why they didn't build a stone bridge there.

When the officials heard about that place, they immediately showed a look of contempt.

There were even some officials who were actually quite understanding of the people there at the beginning.

But after hearing these things, I immediately changed my mind.

“Have the people ever thought about whether the demands they made are too excessive?

Do we really want to waste so much money to build a stone bridge, and then have it washed away?"

"Originally, that place was not suitable for building a stone bridge."

Another official said: "The Imperial Astronomical Observatory has monitored that there will be thunderstorms in the near future, which will definitely delay their construction schedule."

In fact, this is really due to the strange weather in this Little Ice Age.

Although it is okay to have rain during these months from March to September.

But there is a prerequisite that the heavy rain cannot continue.

But when the Little Glacier arrived, it messed up all the weather.

First of all, there is no snow or rain in winter.

This results in a cold and dry period from the end of the year to the beginning of the year.

Nothing can grow.

However, in May, June, July and August, the rainfall is too concentrated, which easily leads to flood disasters.

This is what’s particularly irritating about the Little Ice Age.

A large number of extreme weather events have occurred, leaving ordinary people at a loss as to what to do.

This causes plants to grow incoherently.

Therefore, the Imperial Astronomical Observatory judged that heavy rain would arrive in a month or two.

"If the bridge cannot be built by then, what will Imperial University of Peking do?"

After the official said this, everyone finally felt relieved.

Because they have experienced this kind of extreme weather.

So everyone understands that there will be many difficulties in accomplishing this task.

"I guess that Sophia has never been to our Ming Dynasty.

So he has no idea what this so-called extreme weather is all about!"

At this time, these civil servants were muttering to themselves in secret.

"Do these young people think they can do whatever they want just because they have a little power? The affairs of the court are no joke. They are all in the hands of these young people. Without us old people to support them from behind, let's see how far they can go."

“Zhang Juzheng… humph… you just defeated Gao Gong, and now you want to keep your position, so you just cling to Chen Han.

Then we have to tell you that there are some things that cannot be done this way. You will also sink with him."

Many civil servants murmured.

But Sophia and the others simply ignored the strange things these people said.

Directly use local materials.

Then start designing a reasonable plan.

The design of the plan was soon proposed by a scholar from the north.

Please refer to Zhaozhou Bridge.

The reason why we wanted to refer to Zhaozhou Bridge was because some students who know how to observe weather and climate brought it up.

The reason why these civil servants proposed at this time that they should build the stone bridge within half a year was because the rain would start to concentrate in another one or two months.

That place was originally a place where the Yongding River flooded. If the stone bridge they built could not withstand the impact of the first flood, it would most likely be washed away.

This is why wooden bridges cannot be built.

However, due to its porous design, Zhaozhou Bridge can withstand the impact of floods.

When the student drew the outline of the Zhaozhou Bridge, Sophia immediately realized that this was a very good idea and very suitable for building such a stone bridge over the Yongding River.

Just do it.

Sophia asked the students to start building a model based on the drawings of the Zhaozhou Bridge.

On the other hand, she immediately led her troops to the northern Zhili area where the Zhaozhou Bridge was located.

He first had to find the craftsmen who were maintaining the bridge.

Although the Zhaozhou Bridge was built in the Sui Dynasty, it has undergone a major renovation in recent years, especially during the Jiajing period.

During the renovation, many craftsmen will definitely be involved.

The craftsmen over there may have a lot of experience.

It might be helpful to get the craftsmen there to participate in the construction of this replica of Zhouzhou Bridge.

Secondly, she wanted to personally measure the style, structure, length, width, craftsmanship, etc. of the stone bridge.

If we don't understand these things and just start construction blindly, the Zhaozhou Bridge will definitely become a joke.

The troops led by Sophia soon arrived at Zhao County, Beizhili, where the Zhaozhou Bridge was located.

Fortunately, it was not far away and not much time was wasted.

Furthermore, when they arrived, they found that the Zhaozhou Bridge had just been renovated in the 42nd year of the Jiajing reign.

Many craftsmen participated in this renovation.

So Sophia then issued an imperial decree and summoned the craftsmen who were renovating the Zhaozhou Bridge at that time, and prepared to go to the capital to build a similar Zhaozhou Bridge.

In addition, she found that the Zhaozhou Bridge just matched the width of the Yongding River, which made Sophia feel relieved...

(End of this chapter)