In order to ensure the normal order of the Lantern Festival, for the safety of the people's lives, to prevent the story between Zhao Yefu and himself from being further escalated, and for the safety of his family, Ang Lee chose another way to go to the Lantern Festival. He stood on the third floor of the restaurant and watched the lively scene outside with his family. For some places that he was interested in but couldn't see clearly, he used binoculars to carefully observe to make up for the distance.
This way was not as good as directly entering the lively street, but there was a sense of superiority, which could also make people feel very comfortable.
The manager of the restaurant naturally recognized Ang Lee. Many of the vegetables, fruits, materials, and recipes of their restaurant even came from Ang Lee's courtyard. The manager attached great importance to Ang Lee's arrival. Not only did he not hesitate to book the third floor to Ang Lee, but he also served Ang Lee the best wine and dishes in the restaurant. As for the price, it was all discounted at cost price.
Everyone was not very interested in eating and drinking. When they were hungry, they just ate a little. They spent more time admiring the lanterns and pedestrians on the street, or talking with each other about topics of common interest.
Good wine and good food could be eaten at any time. For Ang Lee and others, it was not very difficult at all. However, they did not have the opportunity to enjoy the lanterns of the Lantern Festival every day. There was only one chance a year. Moreover, Zhao Yefu and Tang Er were leaving Chang 'an City tomorrow. The next time they met would be at least a year later, or several years later.
"Tang Er, the candied haws are here? Take it. "
Ang Lee took the candied haws bought by Zhao Liu and handed one to Tang Er.
"Oh, the candied haws are so sweet!"
Tang Er's baby looked very happy.
"Dad, I want one too."
"Okay, Man 'er, you also have one. Hold it tight."
Ang Lee was still a little worried about Man 'er. After all, he was only a child of more than one year old. It was a problem whether he could hold the candied haws firmly.
"Woo, woo, woo …"
Seeing his two sisters eating the candied haws, Guo 'er in Yan Ruyu's arms cried. Obviously, he also wanted to eat the candied haws, but he was too young to eat at all.
"Haha! Guo 'er, do you want one too? Then drink more milk and grow up quickly. When you grow up, you can eat the candied haws. "
Ang Lee smiled and teased Guo 'er, pinching his tender little face.
"Husband, Guo 'er seems to be really hungry. I'll go to the next room to feed him."
Yan Ruyu said as she went to the next room.
Man 'er was too young, so she couldn't hold the tanghulu in her hand steadily. Man Man could only help her hold it to prevent it from falling to the ground. Meanwhile, Tang' er stood beside Man 'er, competing with Man' er to eat the tanghulu.
Zhao Yefu and Li An stood on the balcony, looking at the bustling Lantern Festival outside.
"Li Lang, when do you think our East Woman Kingdom will be as prosperous as the Great Tang?"
. Zhao Yefu looked at the lively street outside and asked enviously.
"It will be soon. In a few years, the Tang Dynasty will pave the railway to Yizhou and extend it to Dongnu Province. As long as the railway reaches Dongnu Province, the connection between the Tang Dynasty and Dongnu Province will become more and more convenient. In this way, Dongnu Province will soon become very prosperous."
Ang Lee looked forward to it. The strategic railway of the Tang Dynasty was to reach all directions of the Tang Dynasty. Yizhou was very important to the Tang Dynasty. Of course, it must be connected to the railway. However, its importance was not as important as the core areas of Anxi and Shandong. Therefore, it needed to be delayed for a few years. They should concentrate on the most important railway first, and then develop the second important railway.
"Really? Is the Tang Dynasty really going to pave the railway to Dongnu Province? "
Zhao Yefu looked very happy.
"Of course. The railway of the Tang Dynasty will pave all the accessible places, including Dongnu Province."
"That's great. If the railway is built, it will only take two or three days to reach Chang 'an from Dongnu Province. In the future, we won't have to walk for a month to come to Chang' an."
Zhao Yefu looked very happy. The railway would not only promote the economic development of Dongnu Province and the Tang Dynasty, but also make it easier for her to reach Chang 'an faster in the future.
"Yefu, you're leaving Chang 'an tomorrow. I'll give you a small gift."
Li An said as he took out a folded map from the side.
"Gift? What's this?"
Zhao Yefu looked at the folded map curiously.
"Yefu, look, this is the world map I drew by myself. All the places in the world are marked on this drawing. In addition to the cities, rivers, mountains, deserts, and other landforms, I also marked the important facilities such as the railways and bridges that will be laid by the Tang Dynasty in the future. Even the time of laying these railways is marked on it."
Ang Lee unfolded the map and introduced it.
On this map were the railroads that the Great Tang had already built and those that were about to be built, as well as the railroads that had yet to be built. The dates of these railroads that had yet to be built were all marked on the map. As long as everything went smoothly, they could start construction on time.
"This map is marked very carefully. It turns out that Dongnu Province is only such a small piece in the whole world. This black broken line must be the railway that will be laid by the Tang Dynasty in the future. I really hope that this railway can be built as soon as possible. Mr. Li, thank you for your gift. I like it very much."
Zhao Yefu was very satisfied with the map given by Ang Lee and accepted it happily. However, she was also very interested in many areas on the map and asked for a long time, which made Ang Lee's throat sore.
"By the way, Yefu, there is a technology that is very useful to Dongnu Province. I can tell you the formula."
Ang Lee suddenly thought of something.
"A technology that is very important to our Dongnu Province? What technology is it? "
Zhao Yefu asked curiously.
"It's the technology of cement and concrete. The materials used to make these two things are everywhere in your Dongnu Province. In this way, you can use this technology to improve the roads in Dongnu Province and even build strong bridges to facilitate the communication between the people in the country. It can also be better to contact the Tang Dynasty and make it convenient for the Tang Dynasty to pave the railway to Dongnu Province in the future."
Ang Lee said seriously.
"Cement and concrete, aren't they the materials used to build the viewing platform? Can you really give it to our Dongnu Province?"
"Of course, this technology is not complicated. Moreover, most provinces and counties in the Tang Dynasty have begun to make cement and concrete to pave roads and bridges. The secret of this technology will be leaked out sooner or later. Of course, there is no problem to tell you."
Ang Lee smiled and told Zhao Yefu the materials and technology of making cement and concrete.
Zhao Yefu was very happy to get the formula of making cement and concrete. In this way, Dongnu Province could make cement in the country and use it to pave roads and bridges. As long as all the roads were made of cement, it would be easier to pass through and there was no need to worry about the width of the ruts.
The Lantern Festival lasted until the second half of the night. After midnight, there were fewer pedestrians on the street. Ang Lee also returned to the courtyard with his family.
Because Zhao Yefu would leave Chang 'an City early the next morning and return to Dongnu Province, on the Lantern Festival, Ang Lee naturally accompanied Zhao Yefu and doted on her.
Early the next morning, Ang Lee personally sent Zhao Yefu out of the capital and gave her many practical gifts for her to take back to Dongnu Province.
In addition, during the half a month since Zhao Yefu arrived in Chang 'an City, Ang Lee had modernized the carriage that Zhao Yefu rode in. He had installed a spring damping system and improved many internal facilities. Therefore, sitting in such a modified carriage, she would feel very comfortable and avoid the pain of bumps.
After the New Year, all the work went more smoothly. The major local tyrants and aristocrats cooperated, which greatly increased the output of iron ore. With enough iron, railway tracks, bridges, and machinery had enough raw materials, and the development speed was further accelerated.
With the gradual popularization of agricultural machinery in Guanzhong and even all over the country, the output of grain gradually increased, and the need for manpower decreased a lot. Therefore, a large number of agricultural people were saved and entered the industry and handicraft industry. All kinds of service-oriented tertiary industries began to flourish, and the commercial prosperity was greatly accelerated.
During the spring plowing, good news came from the west and the north. The strategic railway from Chang 'an City to Yumen Pass and the surrendered city in the Central Region was completely connected. It took only a year to complete it. This speed might not be comparable even in the future. After all, the Tang Dynasty directly invested more than a million people in the two railways, so the construction speed was naturally not slow.
After the railway was built, it was immediately put into operation. A large number of newly built trains were put on the two lines, and the majority of them were trains to Yumen Pass. After all, this line was the main artery of business between the countries of the Western Region and the Tang Dynasty. Business was particularly frequent, and the circulation of materials was also relatively large.
As for the line to the surrendered city in the Central Region, a small number of trains were put on. The population density in the north was small, and there were only some grassland tribes. The quantity of materials in circulation was relatively small, and the demand for trains was relatively small. However, the defense of the north was very important, so the railway was specially built to quickly transport troops to the north in an emergency and control the situation in the north. Moreover, in the future, the railway would continue to be built to the north to completely control the northern grassland and prevent the grassland tribes from going south to threaten the Tang Dynasty.
At this time, due to the reduced demand for agricultural workers, the industrial population had greatly increased. There were as many as 200,000 craftsmen who specialized in the construction of the railway, and more than 150,000 craftsmen who specialized in machinery manufacturing. In addition, there were also a large number of non-agricultural workers, such as bridge workers, mining workers, and handicrafts.
In addition, as cement factories, various mines, and other low-tech workshops were opened in various provinces and counties, many agricultural workers would also choose to work in the nearby industrial and mining workshops during their leisure time to earn more money. In this way, the actual population engaged in the industrial sector would be larger. This was also Ang Lee's original intention. A large number of low-tech but high-demand workshops would be transferred to all parts of the country and use the surplus labor force in all parts of the country to produce.
In order to attract more people to work, many cement workshops and mines explicitly promised that they would stop production during the busy season so that the people could work in peace. After the farm work was over, they would start to work again.
In this way, as these low-tech workshops were gradually popularized, most of the population of the Tang Dynasty would have the opportunity to participate in the industrial action. In this way, as the participation rate increased, it would be very beneficial to the entire industrialization process of the Tang Empire.
After the railway to Jade Gate Pass and the surrendered city was completely connected, the next step of the railway laying work was put on the agenda.
The next step of the railway laying plan was to start work on two lines at the same time. The first line was from Jade Gate Pass to Shu-lik Town in Anxi, and the other line was from Luoyang City to Lai Zhou, which was near the sea.
The railway line from Jade Gate Pass to Shu-lik Town was very long. It was a distance of five thousand li, which was much longer than the three thousand li from the capital to Jade Gate Pass. The laying of this railway required a huge amount of rail and manpower, which was a great test of the national strength and manpower of the Tang Dynasty.
The railway line from Luoyang City to Lai Zhou was less than two thousand li, which was much closer than the railway line to Shu-lik Town. However, this railway line had to pass through a large number of rivers, and many of these rivers had to be bridged. Therefore, although the railway line was not very long, it was much more difficult to build it than the railway line in the west.
However, this railway line also had a great advantage, which was that the human resources along the way were extremely abundant. As long as the imperial court gave the order, they could mobilize millions of people along the way to participate in the construction of the railway.
In this way, it would only take a year at most for this railway line of less than two thousand miles to be fully connected.
This railway line had been decided long ago, and more than half of the dozens of bridges along the way had already been built. The largest one, the Jishui Bridge, would need at most three months to be completed. It would not affect the construction of the railway at all.
After a series of discussions, the Tang Dynasty finally decided that 150,000 of the 200,000 professional railway construction workers would be sent to Jade Gate Pass to build the railway to Shu-lik Town, and the remaining 50,000 people would be responsible for building the railway from Luoyang City to Lai Zhou.
Although this allocation was biased towards Anxi, due to the difference in manpower along the way, the railway in the east could be completed in a year, while the railway in Anxi might take two or three years to be connected.
After the imperial court issued the decree, the laying of the two railways officially began. With sufficient resources, the work went smoothly. The railway did not even use wooden sleepers anymore. They chose to use concrete instead. This not only saved a lot of trouble, but also had a much more reliable and cheaper life than wooden sleepers.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
