By the end of Kuafu's interesting story, the motorcade had arrived at the foot of Mount Li. The sun that Kuafu had been chasing had already set, and the surrounding scenery had become extremely dim. However, the overall visibility was not bad. They could still see clearly one or two hundred steps ahead. But for absolute safety, the motorcade still turned on the lights.
All the lights in the cars were turned on. In this way, the environment in the cars would be warm and comfortable, and it would be more comfortable for people to sit inside.
As the sun continued to set, the red clouds in the west gradually darkened. Finally, they completely lost their luster and disappeared completely.
Night had come, and the motorcade was still on the way. However, there was a wide and flat road from the foot of Mount Li to Chang 'an. As long as the cars drove slowly, there would be no safety accidents. It was even impossible for them to roll into a ditch. Therefore, there was no need to worry about safety at all. Moreover, they were all experienced drivers, and their driving skills were absolutely guaranteed.
The setting of the sun meant that the moon and stars were about to appear in the sky. In the Tang dynasty, when the environment was almost unpolluted, the sky was clear. Therefore, not only could the blue sky be seen during the day, but it was also easier to see the sky full of stars at night.
Not long after the sun set, the moon and stars in the sky gradually became clear. They looked particularly beautiful, like gems embedded in the night sky.
When he was free, Ang Lee often looked up at the starry sky and various constellations to pass the time. But when he was busy, he often had no time to look at the stars for many days.
For example, in a civilized society, people living in the city basically could not see the stars more than a few times a year. However, people living in the countryside could see the stars almost every day. This was because the city was too busy, and there were too many lights at night. Therefore, not only did they have no time to look at the stars, but even if they looked up at the stars in the sky, it was very likely that they could not see anything, or only a few stars in the sky.
After the Tang dynasty entered the industrial development, people had become busier and busier. However, compared with the civilized society of later generations, there was still a long way to go. At least, there was still time to look at the stars and the moon, and it was also possible to see the beautiful moon and stars.
"Let me ask you a question. Where is the Cowherd?"
Ang Lee looked at the imperial grandchildren and asked.
"There, over there."
The children saw the Cowherd Star in the sky through the car window. They all stretched out their fingers and pointed at it. Some of them didn't know, but they pretended that they knew.
"Where is Vega?"
Ang Lee continued to ask.
"Over there, on the opposite side of the Milky Way, there is a star brighter than Cowherd."
"Oh, what about Sirius?"
"The brightest star is Sirius."
"Haha! Your answers are too good. It seems that I didn't teach you in vain. However, there are too many stars in the sky. If you want to learn all of them, it will take a lot of time. You must study hard. When you are free in the evening, let's look at the stars together, okay? "
Ang Lee said with a smile.
"Alright."
The convoy traveled at a moderate pace and arrived safely at Chang 'an City an hour after the sky turned dark. As the curfew was no longer in effect, the convoy entered the city through the city gate without any hindrance. Moreover, there were many pedestrians entering and exiting the city gate. Most of them were busy merchants and personnel hired by the merchants to transport goods.
Due to the increasing population in the capital, business had also become extremely prosperous, resulting in the frequent transportation of goods. Just the number of ingredients required by the various restaurants and shops in the city was not a small number, and many of the ingredients needed to be transported in from outside the city, which naturally increased the traffic burden at the city gates.
In order to ease the traffic pressure, the main city gates of the capital were all wide open. Moreover, as long as there was no foreign invasion, the gates would never be closed.
When the merchants transported larger goods, they would very cooperatively choose to do it at night. As there were fewer pedestrians at night, the traffic pressure at the city gate was very low. The vehicles could pass through more smoothly. During the day, the various city gates were full of people. The merchants' convoy would be blocked by the flow of people and move very slowly. It even directly caused the traffic to be paralyzed, and no one could pass through at once.
In order to better regulate the transportation, the imperial court adopted a fixed transportation time for many large goods. For example, a urgently needed good in the city would enter the city at night, and another good would enter the city at night, and so on. This staggered the arrival of different goods could reduce the traffic pressure to a greater extent. It allowed each city gate to be unimpeded at any time, thus increasing the operating efficiency of the entire city.
The main city gates of the capital were very tall. Moreover, there were as many as five doorways. In the beginning, pedestrians could only choose to go through the two small doorways at the side. The three large doorways in the middle were all closed. Especially the city gate in the middle, which only the Emperor could use.
However, as the traffic pressure gradually increased, two of the city gates in the middle were opened. Only the city gate in the middle was not used. A total of four city gates on both sides were used.
In this way, pedestrians on foot and on horseback could use the city gate at the side, and the city gate in the middle could allow all kinds of vehicles to pass through. This could greatly increase the traffic efficiency.
As the land in the city became more and more expensive, the parking places naturally became fewer and fewer. As a result, many people who did big business would choose to park many of their vehicles outside the city. When they needed to transport large amounts of goods, they would choose to speed up into the city at night. After putting down the goods, they would quickly transport them away, and then continue to park outside the city.
This problem was also relatively common in the later generations. In the center of many cities, parking spaces became extremely scarce. For this reason, a large number of underground garages had to be built. Even so, it was difficult to solve the problem of parking vehicles. As a result, they had to park their vehicles in the suburbs and take the bus to enter the city.
It had to be said that it was a tragedy to have a car but not be able to use it to their heart's content. Some people also proposed a three-dimensional parking space, which was to park the vehicle in the air. However, this parking method had certain limitations. It was too inconvenient. Every time they parked and picked up the car, it was a very uncomfortable process. Moreover, once the three-dimensional parking space failed, the beloved car was very likely to be smashed.
The current buildings in Chang 'an City were still very primitive. Most of the houses were still made of earth and wood. It was impossible to have a basement. Only a small number of houses were made of concrete. However, when they were first built, in order to consider the cost, they basically did not build a large underground garage, which gradually became a chronic problem.
The parking problem had become a more and more difficult problem in Chang 'an City. As Chang' an City became more and more prosperous, people who originally lived in very ordinary conditions began to have their own vehicles. Many people liked to take a car to the bustling areas for a stroll, which could save a lot of time. However, in this way, the parking problem in the bustling areas became a chronic problem.
Helplessly, the imperial court had to sacrifice part of the wide road and draw a row of parking spaces on both sides of the road to allow the vehicles to park by the side, thus temporarily alleviating this problem. However, this also caused another big problem, which was that the width of the road had been invisibly narrowed, reducing the traffic capacity of the road. At the same time, because there were too many vehicles, even so, it was still difficult to solve the parking problem.
However, since the problem was already in front of them, they could not sit idly by and watch the problem become more and more serious. They had to do everything possible to solve this problem.
"There are more and more vehicles in Chang 'an City. There are many places where we can't park. This is a big problem!"
Ang Lee looked at the various vehicles that occasionally passed by and said.
Li Yu looked at Ang Lee and said, "Here's the thing. Especially in places like Ping Kang Fang, East Market, and West Market, the parking problem is particularly big. Traffic jams are common. Many merchants can only choose to transport goods at night to avoid traffic jams."
"This problem must be solved as soon as possible. Otherwise, the problem will become more and more serious."
Ang Lee said.
Li Yu shook his head helplessly and said, "Everyone wants to solve this problem, but there are more and more vehicles, and the place is only so big. It's impossible to not get jammed unless part of the houses are demolished. Then, there will be parking spaces. However, the houses in these places are very expensive. Every inch of land is worth gold. Who would be willing to demolish the houses? Moreover, if a large number of buildings are demolished, these places will become less prosperous. Thus, no one will come here, and the vehicles will disappear all of a sudden."
The imperial court had studied the problem of parking in the prosperous areas of Chang 'an City many times. However, after fierce debate among the ministers, no constructive measures were taken. In the end, they only proposed to change the places on both sides of the road into parking lots to solve the urgent problem.
This measure sacrificed the traffic capacity of the road. For a considerable period of time after its implementation, not only did it not solve the parking problem, but it also caused more serious traffic jams. The frequency of traffic jams became higher than before. For this reason, the imperial court had to send a large number of traffic maintenance personnel to these areas, which greatly increased the burden of the imperial court.
As the public's voice for solving the traffic jams grew louder and louder, many officials began to impose regulations to restrict personal vehicles from entering the downtown area. For example, people of lower status were not allowed to enter the downtown area by car. Only people of noble status could enter the downtown area by car.
However, this measure had not been implemented for the time being because it was very discriminatory. It would be resisted by the people at the bottom, and it would easily cause unfairness in the whole society.
In Ang Lee's mind, the real reliable solution was to increase the parking spaces in the downtown area. Only by increasing the number of parking spaces could the problem be fundamentally solved. Other solutions were not reliable.
The construction of parking spaces could not be solved by sacrificing the traffic capacity of the road, nor could it be solved by demolishing the buildings.
As a result, there was only one best solution left, which was to renovate the buildings and build underground parking lots. This was the most reliable solution. The areas of Ping Kang Square, East Market, and West Market were very large. If the parking lots were built below, it could be imagined how much parking space could be increased and how many vehicles could be parked.
Most of the shops belonged to individuals. Whether they built underground parking lots below was up to them. However, the businessmen who built underground parking lots would inevitably gain great benefits, and the businessmen who did not build underground parking lots would easily suffer losses in the business field.
For example, there was an underground parking facility below a restaurant that cooperated with the surface parking area. It could park a large number of vehicles. As a result, many consumers were willing to eat and drink in this restaurant. The restaurant next to it could not park, so the business would naturally decline. This was a very normal phenomenon. The service industry had to provide good service. If the service was not good, then why would others pay the bill and why couldn't they go to other places to spend money?
In addition, there were many crisscrossing roads everywhere. Under the roads, it was completely possible to build super-large parking lots. Every distance, there would be an entrance and exit. This would certainly solve the problem of parking.
The underground parking lots of the restaurants and shops naturally belonged to individuals. They needed to pay for the construction. As for the parking spaces under the roads, they needed to be built by the imperial court.
However, the imperial court spent so much to build such a large parking lot. They had to find a way to recover the cost! As a result, they needed to charge a certain amount of fees.
In order to ensure the safety of the underground parking lots, they also needed specialized patrols. This would, to a certain extent, increase the city's employment and further increase the city's prosperity.
Ang Lee told Li Yu his idea and suggested that Li Yu raise this suggestion to the imperial court. This would increase Li Yu's prestige and help him inherit the throne in the future.
"Building underground parking lots is much more expensive than building roads! Even if we collect parking fees, it will take decades to recover the cost. In addition, the traffic pressure now is very high. If the construction blocks the traffic, will the congestion become more serious? "
Li Yu voiced his concerns.
Ang Lee shook his head and said, "Gwangbyeong Of Gojoseon, don't just look at the construction cost. You have to look further. This is a good project that benefits the country and the people. It will increase the prestige of the imperial court. In addition, building a parking lot under the roads will not affect the traffic above and will not cause further congestion. You can rest assured about this."
Chang 'an City was originally located on the loess plateau. The strength and viscosity of the loess were very good. Under normal circumstances, it would not collapse easily. As long as the thickness of the loess was maintained, there would not be a problem in terms of safety. Moreover, during the construction, the underground must be supported by concrete.
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.
