When Li An saw such a simple bed, he couldn't tolerate it anymore. Previously, when he saw a few wooden planks leaning against each other, at least the bottom of the bed was flat. When he slept, it wouldn't be too uncomfortable. However, this simple bed made of thin wooden planks only had a thin layer of blanket on top. How was this a place for humans to live? If he slept on it for a night, his back would definitely hurt.
If they woke up early in the morning and had a sore back, how could they not be affected when they were working? This would inevitably affect the efficiency of their work. Moreover, it was easy to get sick. This situation had to be improved.
The officials behind him could not stand it anymore. They were only in charge of command and coordination, not in charge of the specific work. The living environment of the laborers had never been their focus. As long as they could settle tens of thousands of people, it was enough. As for the poor conditions, they did not care. After all, they were all people at the bottom and could definitely endure hardships. As for the poor conditions, they did not expect it at all.
"Assistant Minister Li, this must be the people below. They couldn't find enough planks at the moment, so they used branches to replace them. I will immediately get carpenters to build simple wooden beds. This will definitely not happen again."
An official said.
This could not be blamed on the low-ranking officials. If the higher-ups did not give them resources, the people below would naturally not work actively. They would do as much as they had the resources. Therefore, under the situation of insufficient resources, after the tents were set up, most of the tents did not have beds. Only a small number of tents had beds. Some of the tents without beds could only be put in simple wooden planks. Some of the tents did not even have wooden planks, only a bare tent. When the people left home, they only brought bedding and did not bring wooden beds. If they slept directly on the ground, they would definitely fall sick. Therefore, Li An guessed that these thin branches were found by the people at the construction site and not arranged by the low-ranking officials.
In the tents with beds lived the skilled craftsmen from the north, while in the empty tents lived the local people of Central Sichuan. There was a clear difference in treatment. After all, the officials also understood that skilled craftsmen from the north were the most important. Many local people were farmers with no high skills, so their treatment naturally could not be compared to skilled craftsmen from the north.
For the construction of the railway, carpenters and stonemasons were more important. Many farmers did not have the skills, so they could only be the craftsmen's assistants and do some rough work. For example, carpenters could do fine work, but work like barking and simple sawing could be left to ordinary farmers. These were not difficult. As long as they were smart, they could do it well.
Although the officials had said that they had to prepare beds for the workers as soon as possible, it would take time to make the beds. It would be difficult to make enough wooden beds in a short period of time. Moreover, it would be impossible for the workers to sleep on the uneven branches every night.
"Aren't there so many made sleepers here? We don't pave roads for the time being. Let's move these sleepers into the tents and make beds for the craftsmen!"
Ang Lee said as he walked out of the tent and saw the piled up sleepers in the distance.
These sleepers were almost the same size and had a relatively flat surface. They were longer than a person's height. As such, three to five sleepers needed to be placed side by side to form a simple bed. There were tens of thousands of sleepers here, so it would not be a problem to form ten thousand simple beds. This would greatly alleviate the lack of beds for the people.
As for the construction of the road, it would take at least half a month to place the sleepers. At this time, half of the forest had not been burned, and the foundation of the road was not firm. The sleepers could only be placed after the foundation was firm, so there was nothing wrong with using these sleepers as beds for the time being. In half a month, the simple beds arranged by the officials should be ready. At that time, the sleepers would be taken out of the tents and used.
There was a large mountain here, so there was no shortage of wood and manpower. If some carpenters were transferred to make the beds, it would more or less delay the construction of the sleepers. It would affect the progress of the road construction a little, but the impact would not be too great.
Making a simple bed didn't require a thick tree trunk, only a branch as thick as an arm would be enough. These branches could be used as the legs and supports of the bed. The bed board above could be made of thin branches of uniform thickness. Although they were thin branches, as long as the thickness was uniform and fixed in place, the effect would be no different from a wooden bed. This was completely different from the messy branches that were placed under one's body. Moreover, with the existence of the bed legs, people could have a certain distance from the ground. In this way, the moisture and cold on the ground would not invade their bodies. As long as everyone was healthy, the efficiency of the work would definitely not be bad. As for the large amount of unpleasant smells in the tent, as long as they got used to it, it shouldn't have too much of an impact on their bodies.
Because there were too many sleepers and they were very heavy, the pressure would be too great if they specifically transferred people to carry the sleepers. Therefore, it was better to wait until after work at night and let the people who did not have beds form teams to carry the sleepers. A team of two would be enough. These sleepers weighed about fifty kilograms, so it was no pressure for two people to carry them. In a short while, they could carry a dozen sleepers, which was enough to satisfy the needs of two people.
After solving the problem of sleeping for the people working, Ang Lee went to the place where the rails were stored. This was the most important equipment for the construction of the railway, and it was also the most expensive material. After all, whether it was wood or stone, Central Sichuan had a lot of them. There were a lot of them in the vicinity, so it could be said that they were inexhaustible. However, the rails were different. The rails were made of steel, and steel needed to be smelted from iron ore. The output and resource content were far inferior to wood and stone. After smelting iron, they still needed to be shaped into the shape of the rails, which was even more difficult. Most importantly, the rails required high technical requirements and could not be produced anywhere. These rails were all transported from the workshops in the capital. Central Sichuan currently did not have a workshop that could make rails.
Because these were the most important railway materials, the places where they were stored were relatively concentrated. There were also many guards outside. At least 100 soldiers were guarding these rail materials day and night for fear of losing even a single rail.
Iron would not burn, so it did not matter how much it was piled up, as long as it was well protected against moisture. After all, steel was a product that was easy to rust. Even stainless steel would rust, but the degree of rust was different. Anyway, the rails built in the Tang dynasty could rust, but the degree of rust was still acceptable, and it would not rust too much. As long as it was in an area that was open to traffic, the surface would not rust at all. Because the vehicles went back and forth every day, the surface had long been polished and could be used as a mirror. There was no trace of rust at all.
The area where the rails were piled up was relatively concentrated so that it was easier to watch, but the height of the pile was not high. After all, these rails were too heavy. It would be too tiring to put them up high, and it would be inconvenient to take them out. Therefore, they could only pile them up a little lower, probably only a little taller than a person. In this way, the pressure when taking them out was much lower.
"There are a lot of rails here! It can probably be repaired for about 50 miles? "
With just a casual glance, Li An was able to estimate how far the tracks could be laid.
"Yes, Assistant Minister Li, the rails here can be laid for exactly 50 miles. There are still 10 miles of rails on the way. They can be transported here in 10 days at most. In this way, the rails for this section of the road will be ready."
A junior official said.
Ang Lee touched it with his hand, then knocked it and nodded in approval. These rails were relatively smooth to the touch, and the sound was relatively crisp. There was no sand hole inside. The quality of such rails was completely qualified and could be used to pave the railway. There was no need to worry about the quality of the rails at all.
"These rails were transported from the capital. Each of them is very important and expensive. None of them can be missing, and the same goes for these accessories."
Ang Lee said.
"Assistant Minister Li, don't worry. I have arranged 100 people to guard them day and night. None of them will be lost. Moreover, these are all goods specially used for the railway. No one dares to steal them. Even if they steal them, they can't use them. As long as they are discovered, they will be beheaded."
An official said.
The rails were not welded but connected by screws. Therefore, it was not impossible to steal the rails. In order to prevent people from stealing the rails out of poverty, the imperial court had issued a decree when the railway first appeared that the rails and all the goods belonged to the imperial court. Civilians were not allowed to own them. If they were discovered, they would be beheaded, which was the same as the crime of secretly possessing armor. This was to prevent people from stealing the rails. Otherwise, if the poor people stole the rails, the bandits stole the rails because they had no money to spend, and the greedy people also stole the rails, the railways of the Tang dynasty would not be able to run, and the consequences would be extremely serious.
The high-ranking officials of the imperial court knew how important the railway was to the Tang dynasty. Therefore, in order to prevent people from coveting the rails and selling them for money, they had to strengthen the deterrence in the decree and equate the crime of stealing the rails with the crime of secretly possessing armor. In this way, unless they were about to starve to death, they would never steal the rails. Bandits and bandits were just trying to make a living, so they would not take risks for such a small amount of money. Moreover, even if they stole the rails, they could not sell them. No blacksmith shop that collected scrap dared to collect goods related to the rails. Otherwise, they would also be implicated and be charged with the same crime as stealing the rails.
Therefore, under such strict laws, no one dared to steal goods from the railway. No matter how bold a thief was, he would have to think twice before stealing the railway. He would have to see if his neck was strong enough. Stealing the railway was definitely not worth the loss. The benefits that could be gained would far outweigh the risks. Therefore, as long as there was nothing wrong with one's brain, they would never do such a thing.
However, although the commoners probably wouldn't dare to steal the rails, the necessary protection couldn't be neglected. It was better to be safe than sorry. Perhaps some commoners didn't know that the imperial court had such a law, or they saw that there were too many rails here and wanted to make a fortune. This wasn't impossible. Therefore, strict protection was necessary. Even during construction in the future, the leading craftsmen would need to follow the procedures to be able to withdraw a corresponding amount of rail materials. They wouldn't be able to withdraw even a single screw to ensure that these materials wouldn't be wasted.
"Yes, this official knows that ordinary people don't have such guts, but if it's an iron mine, it might not be so. After stealing the rails, they directly transported them back and melted them into molten iron. There really isn't any evidence to be found!"
Ang Lee said.
Since the imperial court had ordered that rail materials were equivalent to armor, the common people were not allowed to possess them. However, if the rails were melted, there would be no way to investigate. The rails were made of iron, so it was not impossible to melt them in the furnace. Once they were melted into molten iron, there would be no way to investigate.
"Yes, yes, yes. Assistant Minister Li is right. This humble official will strictly guard it and will not let the evildoers have a chance to take advantage of it. Not a single rail will be missing, not even a single screw will be missing."
A minor official said.
Li An nodded in satisfaction. He had completed his inspection. After this inspection, he didn't encounter many problems, and they weren't difficult to solve. He could be considered to be relieved.
After making a few rounds in the vicinity, the sky gradually darkened. The common people who had worked for the day began to get off work. The people nearby each drove their own vehicles home, while the common people who lived in the construction site began to prepare for dinner. Some were busy washing up by the river, while others who did not have a decent sleeping berth followed the instructions of the minor officials to move the sleepers nearby so that they could sleep more comfortably at night. Seeing the busy figures of the common people, Ang Lee felt very happy. As long as these common people ate and drank well, they would be able to build the railway faster. Once the railway was built, the economic development of Central Sichuan would be much faster in the future. It would be possible to travel from the capital to Central Sichuan in one or two days, no longer needing more than ten days to get there.
This was especially true for the royal family. A trip to Central Sichuan would take almost a month. Even if they ran for their lives, it would take nearly half a month to get there. With the railway, in the future, whether it was the royal family or the common people, they would be able to get there in a very short period of one or two days. This was a great thing for everyone.
"Assistant Minister Li, there is no big problem here, and there is nothing to do. Why don't we set off tomorrow and continue on our way?"
Chen Long said.
"What do you want to do in such a hurry?"
Ang Lee asked with a smile.
"Of course I want to get to Dongnu Province as soon as possible. I haven't been there yet."
Chen Long said with a smile.
Obviously, Chen Long was still thinking about the watchtowers in Dongnu Province. He was probably a little impatient. Although there was no lack of brothels and taverns along the way, how could these common women compare to the good families in Dongnu Province?
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