Because of Chen Longzheng's request, Xiao Ruxun decided to take Chen Longzheng and Yuan Yan to see Yuan Huang, who was organizing the construction of the Dazhi Road in Tongzhou.
Yuan Huang divided the task of building the Dazhi Road from the capital to Shenyang into two major stages. The first stage was within the Shanhaiguan Pass, which was the distance between Tongzhou and Shanhaiguan Pass. The stage outside the Shanhaiguan Pass was not considered for the time being. The power transfer outside the Shanhaiguan Pass was still ongoing and it was not stable yet.
Yuan Huang was very efficient. In this state, the Dazhi Road had already been built for more than a hundred miles. He studied the historical materials of Qin Shihuang's construction of the Dazhi Road and consulted the opinions of various craftsmen before deciding on his plan.
The Dazhi Road built by Qin Shihuang for carriages and horses to travel quickly was not a simple flat ground. Instead, it was paved with sleepers and strictly limited in width, forming a road similar to a modern railway. But instead of iron, it was made of wood.
The distance between the sleepers was actually in sync with the pace of the horses. Once the horses pulled the carriage onto the track, they would involuntarily 'self-excitation'. They had no choice but to run as fast as they could, and it was almost impossible for them to stop. And this was exactly what Xiao Ruxun required when she built the Great Chi Way.
And the Dazhi Road was not just a road. Within a specified distance, there would be special "stations". The stations were managed by special personnel who were responsible for providing accommodation and food for the transportation team, as well as providing fodder for the transporting horses. They were also responsible for planting trees on both sides of the road.
More importantly, these stations were responsible for the maintenance of the relevant roads and providing replacement horses so that in extreme cases of need, the goods could be transported day and night at the fastest speed possible in that era.
Because of the use of tracks, the friction was greatly reduced, so the horses could also pull a lot of goods at one time, and even people could be transported.
Modern experts believed that this was the most economical way to use horse power, or in other words, it was the most efficient way. It was generally accepted that the speed should be at least 600 kilometers a day and night, some people thought it should be 700 kilometers.
This speed was even faster than the legendary 800 kilometers express. No wonder Qin Shihuang could mobilize 500,000 Qin Army south to Lingnan and migrate millions of people to fill the Lingnan, truly controlling this land.
Without heaven-defying transportation capabilities, how could such a thing be accomplished?
Even in the current Daming Dynasty, the transportation of rations and fodder for a 500,000-strong army was unimaginable.
Back in the war in Korea, the transportation of more than 40,000 Ming Army's rations and fodder had almost destroyed the Ming government's logistics. It could be seen that the Ming government's logistics capabilities were worlds apart from the Qin government's.
Every time he thought of this, Xiao Ruxun hated the incompetence of the later dynasties. What the Qin dynasty could do, they couldn't do later on. This was also the reason why Xiao Ruxun insisted on centralizing power and didn't allow the local regions to challenge the central authority.
Only when the national government was strong could it mobilize enough people to do great things. On the basis of a clear goal, centralization of power was the best system.
Under such a system, Xiao Ruxun pushed forward all kinds of policies, and no one dared to oppose him. Everyone was doing their work honestly, and no one dared to oppose Xiao Ruxun's order to rebuild the roads. They ran the administrative machine with all their might, taking charge of the local disaster victims and working hard for one goal.
Yuan Huang was fighting the vanguard battle for everyone. His success could provide experience and confidence to the other Dachi Roads.
This was the case now. They were building roads and planting trees at the same time. They also set up the rule of setting up a station every 100 kilometers. They also ordered the construction of straight roads beside the roads for the army to walk on. When the army marched, they could move together with the supply caravan.
In this era where trains and railways couldn't be built, the roads and straight roads were the limit of what they could do. Xiao Ruxun needed the roads and straight roads. He needed a faster and more convenient mode of transportation. Only in this way could he do a lot of things.
Yuan Huang also thought so. This was not only something Xiao Ruxun did to consolidate his rule, but more importantly, it was more beneficial to the country. Yuan Huang agreed with this idea, so he was willing to use his last bit of energy to complete the Dachi Roads.
He didn't want to see Xiao Ruxun again, but Xiao Ruxun brought Chen Longzheng and Yuan Yan to inspect the construction of the Dachi Roads, so he had to see them.
But he definitely wouldn't do something like greeting.
Only a few of Yuan Huang's deputies came to greet them, as well as a group of people in charge. But Yuan Huang didn't come. Xiao Ruxun didn't find it strange. He inspected the construction site under the guidance of this group of people. He looked at the construction progress of the roads and straight roads and felt very satisfied.
Xiao Ruxun couldn't find any flaws in Yuan Huang's work.
Maybe Yuan Huang was also using this method to express his regret.
"Your Majesty, Old Father, he … he definitely didn't mean it."
But Yuan Yan was worried about his father's behavior. He was afraid that Xiao Ruxun would be unhappy.
Xiao Ruxun smiled bitterly and shook his head.
"Ruosi, don't worry. It wasn't Duke Yuan who betrayed me. Duke Yuan didn't betray me."
After saying this, Xiao Ruxun didn't say anything else.
The group of people headed for the Dachi Roads office. Whether or not Yuan Huang came to greet them, they had to see him eventually.
Yuan Huang was working alone in his office, ignoring Xiao Ruxun's arrival. When Xiao Ruxun arrived at the entrance of the office, he didn't go to greet him. Even when Xiao Ruxun brought Yuan Yan and Chen Longzheng into his office, Yuan Huang was still busy writing.
Yuan Yan and Chen Longzheng looked at each other, gave each other a look, and then came forward together and bowed.
"Son (student) greets father (teacher)."
The pen in Yuan Huang's hand paused. After a while, he started writing again, without raising his head.
"Why didn't you do your own things? Why did you come to this old man's place? Everything here is normal, safe and stable. I don't need you to put down your own things to come see me. Go back and do your own things. "
It sounded like Yuan Huang was educating his son and disciple, but in Xiao Ruxun's ears, these words might not necessarily be directed at him.
He still hadn't forgiven himself.
Xiao Ruxun's heart dimmed.
"Father, after I separated from you, I've been thinking about you, so I came to visit."
Hearing Yuan Yan say this, Chen Longzheng also quickly said, "Yes, teacher, this student was busy with other things. Now that I have the time, I came to visit teacher."
"You're caught between loyalty and filial piety. You're all talented people. You should use your talents to do things for the country instead of wasting them on an old man like me. Go do what you should do!"
Yuan Huang took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
He knew that Xiao Ruxun hadn't left, and he also knew that Xiao Ruxun had something to say to him, but he didn't want to have any contact with Xiao Ruxun.
In his opinion, this was something that was completely unnecessary.
Ever since Xiao Ruxun decided to do such a thing, he was already incompatible with Yuan Huang's ideals.
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