Although the large clans in the Western Detention Area maintained peace on the surface, there were still many secret conflicts because of the hatred that had been formed. There were also some particularly stubborn clan members who chose to leave their clans in order to gain more freedom to settle their grudges. Over time, these people who had lost their support became bandits who raided and pillaged.
However, these bandits also had their own principles, that was, they would not rob people from their own clans. They would only rob the goods of the clans they hated. Although they were robbing other clans, they raised themselves to the height of the hatred of their clans, as if they were doing righteous things. In fact, they were very narrow-minded. They were really bandits.
Regarding the chaos in the Western Detention Area, there were naturally people who submitted a memorial to the imperial court of the Tang Dynasty, hoping that the imperial court could take care of it. However, the imperial court did not have the leisure to take care of this matter. These detention areas were too remote for the imperial court of the Tang Dynasty. Naturally, the imperial court was unwilling to take care of it. Although the imperial court finally took action, it only sent several officials from Central Sichuan to the detention areas to coordinate the relationship between the various clans and ask them to sit down and have a good talk instead of continuing to resist. As for whether these large clans were obedient or not, it was their own business. Anyway, the Tang Dynasty would not send troops to maintain the situation here, so as not to bring a heavy burden to the imperial court.
Since ancient times, the imperial court of any country didn't want their burdens to be too heavy. They all liked to occupy rich areas. Although some areas weren't rich, they would still forcibly occupy strategic areas. As for barren areas without any strategic value, they had no interest at all. This was because the benefits that could be gained from occupying these areas were too little, and the cost was very high. It was completely not worth the loss. Naturally, the ruler was very unwilling to occupy these areas.
This was the case for many detention areas in the Tang Dynasty. The burden of occupying these areas was too heavy, and the benefits that could be gained from these areas were too little. It was not worth the loss at all.
Of course, if these detention areas were developed well and the economic development of these areas were promoted, it would be a different situation. As long as these areas were developed well, they could also become rich areas. In this way, occupying these areas would not be a heavy burden. However, the development of any area was a loss in the early stage. The premise was that a lot of capital had to be invested, which made it difficult for the imperial court to make up its mind.
Currently, the imperial court of the Tang Dynasty needed to invest in too many projects. Each project needed money, and they were all very expensive. Therefore, the imperial court was not interested in investing in these detention areas that were not very loyal.
In short, various factors had caused a series of chaos in the western detention area. With the complete submission of Dongnu Province, this chaos would definitely be greatly improved in the near future. In a few years, the chaos in this area would gradually disappear with the continuous investment of the Tang Empire, and this area would gradually become prosperous. As long as a road was built to this area, this area would quickly become prosperous. There were mountains here, so there must be a lot of various resources, such as fruits, mountain products, and minerals. Because of the difficulty of transportation, these things were not known. The wood and minerals in the mountains were not worth much mining. As long as the road was built well enough and the transportation problem was completely solved, the various resources in the mountains could become real treasures. It was difficult for these large tribes not to become rich.
What Ang Lee was most interested in was whether there were various mineral resources in the western detention area. Previously, due to the inconvenience of transportation and the valiant customs of these tribes, the technicians of the Tang Dynasty did not enter this area to investigate. After all, there were no good roads. Even if they found mineral resources, they were not worth much mining. In an area with bad transportation, it was difficult to develop good resources. Minerals were very heavy, not like gold, silver, or soft things that could be carried on one's body. A large number of minerals had to be transported by good roads. Without good roads, the minerals could not be transported well.
One of the conditions for the submission of Dongnu Province was that the Tang Dynasty had to build a good road to Dongnu Province to promote the prosperity of the people of Dongnu Province. The road to Dongnu Province had to pass through the western detention area. This road was the best road to develop. It was more difficult to develop other roads. If this road was built, the traffic conditions in the western detention area would be greatly improved. At that time, the big tribes in the west would no longer have to compete for the profits of selling goods. There would be even greater profits waiting for them. As long as there were minerals in their areas, they could mobilize their clansmen to mine. They could definitely earn a lot of money. There were also various kinds of wood and game that could be sold for money. Previously, because the road was blocked, these things were bought at a low price. Now that the road was cleared, these things could be sold at a more ideal price.
After staying in Heming Mountain for two days, Yang Saburo and the three hundred men under his command returned one after another. Ang Lee's team set off for the western detention area. The team moved very slowly. The bad mountain road made it impossible for the team to walk fast. It was already good enough if they could walk 30 miles a day.
When they encountered some very bad roads, Ang Lee could only choose to get off the car and walk on foot to avoid injuries caused by the car overturning. In such bad terrain, overturning was not a new thing at all. It was a common occurrence. Needless to say, the consequences of overturning a car were needless to say.
"This mountain road is really too dangerous. If the road is rebuilt, how can it be repaired?"
Chen Long said while wiping his sweat.
Indeed, this mountain road was too difficult to walk on. Many sections of the road were completely on cliffs. There were stones under their feet and above their heads. The stone road under their feet was not wide, and the stones above their heads seemed like they could fall down at any time. It was really too dangerous. This kind of road was called a wall hanging road. It was a very dangerous road and also a very dangerous road. If one did not pay attention and fell down, it would cost one's life.
Ang Lee also felt very desperate about the road here. The road here was too dangerous. Even if the uneven road under their feet was smoothed, it would not change the fact that this road was too dangerous. Moreover, only horse-drawn carriages could travel on this wall-hanging road. Trains and motor vehicles could not travel on this wall-hanging road. This was definitely not going to work.
For such a situation, Chen Long naturally appeared to be a little clueless. This guy was a martial artist and did not know anything about road construction. Ang Lee, on the other hand, could naturally find out things that others could not find along the way.
For the road construction, Ang Lee also carefully observed the terrain along the way. He found that the only way to build a road was to build along the river. That was to build a road on the river surface. Wherever the river led, the road would go. Of course, the road did not have to be built in the center of the river. Instead, it had to be built as close to the side as possible, along the river and the shallow areas. For some places that needed to be turned, it could only be built in the center of the river.
In order to save costs, the best way to build a road was along the river. Ang Lee also saw the road conditions and terrain here. They could either build a road along the river or use the wall-hanging method. It was very difficult to build a wide road with a wall-hanging method, and the road was too dangerous. It was completely different to build a road along the river. Although the river here was difficult to sail on and the water source in the river was melted water from the icebergs, fortunately, it was wide enough. Most of the riversides were very wide. In some places with good conditions, they could directly build a road on the shore. In other words, after the use of concrete and steel bars, road construction had become relatively easier. It could be built almost on any terrain, especially along the river, which became very light and easy.
"I have seen it all along the way. There is no better way. It seems that we can only build a road along the river."
Ang Lee wiped the sweat on his forehead and said.
Chen Long wondered, "Build a road along the river? How do you build it? If the river rises, won't the road be flooded? "
Ang Lee replied with a smile, "This is not a problem. We can raise the road. As long as the road is raised, it will not be flooded."
"Raise the road and build it in the air! Don't tell me you want to put a wooden support on the road! "
Chen Long said with a smile.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "You are right. However, we can't use wood to support the road. Wood is not strong enough to support the road. If we want to support it, we need to use concrete. Using concrete to support the road, it will be enough to make the road higher than the river by one person. This river is very small. Even if the water rises, it will not rise as high as a person."
"Oh, you can do that!"
Chen Long did not know much about road construction, so he responded with doubts.
The road was really difficult to walk on, and it was also too dangerous. The group kept stopping, and no one dared to walk too fast. If they fell off the cliff, they would lose their lives. No one was willing to lose their lives, so naturally, no one dared to take the risk.
Although the road was very dangerous, the scenery of the wall-hanging road was still very good. Standing on the wall-hanging road, one could see the scenery of the opposite cliff. The pine trees that grew out of the stone crevices were awe-inspiring. The vitality of these pine trees was so strong that they could survive in such a harsh stone crevice. It had to be said that it was a miracle. The key was that these pine trees did not grow very short. Instead, they grew very tall, much taller than the height of two people.
For some very precious trees, only a little in the crevices of these cliffs could be found. Because all the trees that grew on the ground were cut down by greedy human beings. Only those that grew in the crevices of the stone could easily escape the disaster.
However, because they grew in the crevices of the stone, the roots of the trees would be quite crooked. This made many collectors and artists very happy. Under the pursuit of these people, these precious pine trees that grew in the crevices of the stone crevices could not escape the disaster. Later, many pine trees in the crevices of the stone crevices were also cut down by people and made into various exquisite root carvings.
Looking at these strong pine trees, Ang Lee felt that human beings were too greedy. Such beautiful and strong pine trees grew in the crevices of the trees. How could people uproot them from the crevices of the stone for the so-called appreciation? This was too cruel, and it also seriously damaged the scenery of the mountain.
The wall-hanging road was divided into sections, and each section wasn't particularly long. After passing through this section of the wall-hanging road, the team finally entered a relatively good open area. Because everyone was relatively tired, Li An let the team stop to rest and prepare lunch. After eating and drinking to their heart's content, they continued on their way.
There were only five geese and five sheep left from the livestock he brought from the Yang family. The rest had been eaten up. Li An had kept them for himself, so he didn't share them with anyone else. Otherwise, he wouldn't have kept them until now.
Although there were forests all along the way and there should be a lot of game, because they were not familiar with the terrain and the journey was very tiring, they did not hunt along the way. All they ate was the food they had brought along. There were very few supplies along the way. Even in the county town of Dayi County, the supplies were very limited, so as not to add too much burden to this small county town.
Because of the increasing shortage of food, the team's menu became monotonous. Except for the big shots like Ang Lee, the rest of the soldiers and coolies only had two dishes, one meat and one vegetable, plus a portion of rice every day. They were probably very hungry.
"Assistant Minister Li, it seems that we have left Dayi County. Look at the mountains behind us and Muzha City in front of us. This should be one of the strongholds of the Jiang tribe."
Chen Long looked at Muzha City in the distance and said.
He observed it with his binoculars. He could not see it with his naked eyes because it was still too far away. Muzha City was located at a lower position than Ang Lee's resting place. There were no mountains in the middle and there was also a good road, so the pressure would be much lower if they traveled here.
There were many crops planted on both sides of the road ahead. These should be the rations of the people in Muzha Stronghold. These crops were at least a few thousand mu in size. The crops seemed to be highland barley or wheat, but they could not be seen clearly because they were too far away.
Because there was such a small plain where crops could be planted, a stronghold could be formed here. Without this small plain, this stronghold would not have existed. After all, these people also needed to eat. Without the land to plant crops, how could they eat?
Ang Lee had reason to believe that every stronghold along the way was built on a small plain. There would be many crops around each stronghold. There would be no exception.
Ang Lee's team was cooking, and cooking would inevitably cause a lot of smoke. A team of nearly 700 people would definitely need more than one bonfire. Therefore, the bonfire they lit was naturally very large. Such a large bonfire would naturally arouse the vigilance of the Jiang tribe not far away. They soon discovered the smoke in the distance.
The brawny man standing on Muzha City's wall quickly reported the situation to their Young Patriarch.
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