Ang Lee was about to leave Yizhou City, and there were no more comfortable waterways for him to travel on. All the roads were difficult mountain roads. If he encountered a difficult road, he would have to get off and walk. Otherwise, he would be jolted to death in the carriage.
Before setting off, the most important thing was naturally to prepare all kinds of materials. Only when all the materials for the trip were fully prepared could they set off smoothly. They had to think of all the possible unexpected situations along the way and make adequate preparations.
Although he would pass by some counties along the way and could get a lot of supplies, the materials in these remote counties were extremely limited. Many of the materials might be available in Yizhou City, but they would definitely not be available in the western counties. If he didn't prepare in advance, it would be a waste of time.
Going west from Yizhou City, he would pass by Shuangliu County, Tang 'an County, Jinyuan County, Dayi County, and several other counties. Then he would enter a barren land with almost no human habitation. The roads were also very bad, so it would be very difficult to get supplies.
This section of the road with almost no human habitation was hundreds of miles long. It was the junction between the Tang dynasty and Dongnu Province. If it weren't for the trade between the two countries, there would be no human habitation on this road. It was the trade between the two countries that led to the creation of this road. At the same time, it also led to the emergence of bandits and other organizations. These bandits specialized in robbing passing caravans.
Considering that the counties along the way were not rich and were relatively short of supplies, and Ang Lee's team had about 500 people, it was more appropriate to get food and other supplies in Yizhou City. Otherwise, it would bring a great burden to the counties along the way.
In order not to disturb the order of the city, Li An's guards were all stationed outside the city. Apart from entering the city to purchase supplies, look for coolies, and pass the necessary time, none of the guards were allowed to enter Yi Zhou City.
If Ang Lee wanted to know how the team's supplies were, he naturally could go directly to the station. There was no need to go to Yizhou City.
"Assistant Minister Li won't go to the city."
Yang Saburo asked.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "Forget it, I won't go in. I'll go to the station to see if there's anything missing. In the afternoon, I'll go to the city. You don't need to follow me. Go and rest!"
After that, he went straight to the station.
When he just arrived at Yizhou City, Ang Lee went directly into the city. He didn't stay in the station for a day, so he didn't know anything about the situation of the station outside the city. Ang Lee know nothing about the station, and Ang Lee didn't know how to prepare the supplies.........
.......... to the station....... to......
The encampment was not far from the city, just near the harbor. It was close to the water source, so it was more convenient to get water. The Wenshui was clear enough to be used for washing and feeding the horses. And because it was close to the river, the well water by the river was also quite abundant. It was completely inexhaustible. The river water was filtered through the sand, and when it reached the well, it became very clean. There would be no problem if it was boiled and drunk. If it was drunk directly, it would not be a big problem, and it would not easily make people sick.
. so......... . Good preparation! "
When Ang Lee got close to the station, he saw a large number of carriages. There were more than two hundred of them, and they were all strong horses. The carriages were also small and sturdy. They were very suitable for traveling in the mountains.
Except for a few carriages for passengers, the rest of the carriages were all trucks for transporting goods. Because of the long journey, they needed to carry a lot of goods, so trucks were indispensable. Moreover, the number of trucks couldn't be small. The more, the better.
Considering that the team would eventually enter a desolate place where there was no human habitation, sleeping in the wild was inevitable. Therefore, it was necessary to bring tents for hundreds of people. Just the tents alone were not enough, they also had to bring clothes and bedding. Therefore, just the accommodation alone required a huge amount of supplies, which required enough carriages to transport. Along the way, they had to eat and drink. Therefore, they had to bring a lot of food. More than 200 horses also needed to eat and drink. Although they could let the horses eat grass along the way, in order to maintain their physical strength, they still had to prepare the necessary horse food. For example, they had to prepare more black beans. When they were free, they would give the horses some black beans. In this way, the horses would have more strength to hurry on with the journey.
In short, there were too many supplies to carry. Naturally, the number of carriages couldn't be small. More than two hundred carriages were not a lot. It was even possible that it wasn't enough. They had to continue to increase the number of carriages to carry as much supplies as possible.
"Assistant Minister Li, most of these carriages were hired from Yizhou City. The owners will also go with us. Along the way, there will be nearly two hundred more people. Therefore, we have to prepare more food."
Chen Long opened his mouth and said.
Hiring a carriage naturally meant hiring a coachman as well. Not many of Li An's bodyguards knew how to drive a carriage. Moreover, the coachman was not at ease leaving his carriage in the hands of others. In addition, because there was a high possibility that there would be no business on the return journey, the carriage fee was calculated at twice the usual rate. This was all small money and was nothing to Li An.
"Well, then prepare more. We can't let the drivers starve."
Ang Lee said.
Among these carriages, some were directly purchased. For example, the carriages prepared for Ang Lee and a few others were purchased. Moreover, they were special carriages that had been modified. They were much more bumpy than ordinary carriages. This was because these carriages were equipped with advanced springs, which were invented by Ang Lee. They could greatly improve the ride comfort of the carriages. Even on the mountain roads, they could greatly reduce the bumpiness.
"This carriage looks good."
Ang Lee walked into the carriage prepared for him and nodded with satisfaction. This carriage was prepared according to Ang Lee's requirements. It met Ang Lee's requirements in all aspects, which made Ang Lee very satisfied.
With this carriage, there was basically no need to worry about the bumpiness along the way. As long as the road wasn't too difficult, there wouldn't be any problems. Even if there was a difficult road, they could still get off the carriage and ride a horse.
The bodyguards and coachmen could only walk. A few of them could ride horses. Ang Lee could not only ride a horse, but also sit in a carriage. In addition, there was more than one carriage prepared for Ang Lee. There was a small one for lying down and sleeping, and a slightly larger one for living. There were tables and chairs, as well as food to satisfy his hunger at any time.
In the whole team, only Ang Lee had this kind of super treatment. The rest did not have this kind of treatment. After all, only Ang Lee was a high-ranking official, the only high-ranking official. The rest were small people. There were only a few bodyguards at the rank of captain. These small people were everywhere in the capital. Therefore, it was impossible for them to enjoy the treatment of a carriage. At most, they could share a carriage with a few people, which made the journey slightly more comfortable.
Because they had to sleep in the wild along the way, a large number of tents were prepared. However, in order to reduce the pressure of the journey, these tents were simple. They only had a shelf and a layer of cloth. They had a certain function of blocking the wind and rain. The function of protecting against the cold and the defense was very small. It was just enough. When resting at night, it would definitely be very uncomfortable to stay in such a tent. After all, only tents were prepared, and no beds were prepared. The soldiers could only sleep on a very thin straw mat and then rest on the mat.
The reason why no beds were prepared was because beds took up too much space. A few hundred people would have to prepare a few hundred beds. At the very least, this would require a lot of carriages to transport. This would further increase the pressure of transportation. Therefore, they could only wrong the soldiers. Even Ang Lee himself did not prepare a bed. This was because Ang Lee had a small carriage that was specially used for sleeping. It was slightly longer than a person and was as wide as two people. Although it was not spacious enough to sleep in, it would definitely not be cramped. It was very comfortable.
After all, no one knew the situation of the road to Dongnu Province better than the local people of Central Sichuan. They were very clear in their hearts that the road to Dongnu Province was too rugged and difficult to pass. There were many places that were difficult to pass. The larger the vehicle, the more difficult it was to pass. Only the owners of the small carriages were willing to pass through smoothly. Therefore, the owners of the large carriages were naturally unwilling to go. They did not want to be trapped halfway. Only the owners of the small carriages were willing to go to Dongnu Province for the sake of the double toll.
Ang Lee carefully observed these small carriages. He found that not only were these small carriages smaller, but their design was also very unique. It seemed that they were specially designed for mountain roads. The body of the carriages was small, but the two wheels were surprisingly large. The ratio of the wheels to the carriages was completely abnormal. It was a little unpleasant to look at. In addition, the width of the wheels was also relatively large. It was more than twice as wide as a normal wheel. The carriages were not big, but the wheels were surprisingly large. It was obvious that it was a freak.
The reason why these small carriages in Central Sichuan were designed to have such a strange appearance was to be able to travel smoothly on the difficult mountain roads.
A larger wheel meant a stronger passing ability. Ordinary small pits on the road could not stop a large wheel at all. If it was a small wheel, it would be easy for it to fall into a mud pit, causing the driver to go crazy.
Later generations had invented a huge wheel that was several people's height. This kind of wheel could pass through a few meters of trenches, making the trenches dug by the defense lose their ability to block it. Therefore, the passing ability of the huge wheel could be imagined.
The wider wheels were also to increase the passing ability of the carriages. In the case of soft mud, the narrower wheels were easy to fall into the mud, and the wider wheels had a larger contact area with the ground. It could disperse the pressure of the carriages on the soft mud, so that the carriages could pass through the softer areas without falling into the mud.
On the road to Dongnu Province, not only was the road rugged, but there would also be mountain torrents that would flood the road, causing the road to be filled with mud. It was impossible to travel in such a bad place without wide wheels. Only the wider wheels could pass through these areas. There was no need to think about small wheels; they definitely could not pass through.
Wasn't this wide and large wheel the principle of tanks in later generations? Weren't the tracks of tanks to increase the friction with the ground? Because the weight was too heavy, without the tracks, the tanks would easily fall into the soft mud. With the tracks, the tanks could move smoothly on many soft terrains.
Of course, tanks were the war chariots of later generations, and the carriages of the Tang dynasty were obviously unlikely to be equipped with tracks. Wider wheels had greatly increased the friction between the carriages and the ground, so the carriages needed more power. In other words, bigger wheels were not all advantages. There were also disadvantages. That was, the horses pulling the carriages had to exert more strength to pull the carriages, and the horses would have a harder time. However, in order to balance the lack of strength of the horses, the carriages were made smaller, and the load was reduced a lot. In this way, the horses could bear it. Moreover, in the case of poor road conditions and narrow roads, the carriages themselves could not be large. It was difficult for large carriages to pass smoothly. Only small carriages could better pass through narrow roads.
In short, these trucks in Central Sichuan were made like this because of practical reasons. It was the local people who made improvements based on the actual local road conditions. This reflected the intelligence of the people in Central Sichuan, and also reflected the rugged roads in Central Sichuan.
Since ancient times, people had known that the road in Sichuan was as difficult as ascending to the sky. The roads in Central Sichuan were really a bit bad. Although there were flat plains here, the mountainous areas were not less than the plains. In the plains, the trucks could be transported with small wheels, but in the rugged mountainous areas, the trucks could only be transported with large wheels. Therefore, these two kinds of trucks were very common in Central Sichuan. Different vehicles were suitable for different areas. Between two cities in Central Sichuan, small wheels were the right choice. However, when transporting goods through mountainous areas, large wheels were the only choice.
There were so many carriages, more than half had been loaded with goods, and some were temporarily empty. After all, the team still needed to rest here for the night. The tents could not be loaded into the carriages, and neither could the bedding and cooking utensils. These could only be loaded tomorrow morning. In addition, the number of carriages could not be calculated too accurately. There would definitely be some discrepancies, but this did not affect anything. If there were not enough carriages, each carriage could be loaded with a little more goods. If there were surplus carriages, each carriage could be loaded with less goods to reduce the burden of each carriage, or simply leave them empty. Anyway, it was just a little more money.
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