By the time Zu Mingjun reached Luoyang City and stepped onto the brick road, there was already a four wheeled carriage waiting for him.
"But young master Zu! I, Mo Er, have been waiting for you here. "Mo Er said.
"Many thanks!" Zu Mingjun returned the greeting. He had seen Mo Er in the Mo Manor before, so he naturally recognized him.
Zu Mingjun stepped onto the carriage, and Mo Er immediately began to drive.
"Jia!"
Four horses pulled the carriage along the straight brick road towards Chang 'an City. Not long after, Zu Mingjun suddenly noticed that the carriage had stopped, and could not help but stretch his head out to take a look.
"Young master Zu, wait a moment! Once we pass the toll station, the carriage can continue moving. "Mo Er explained.
Zu Mingjun nodded. Looking at the toll station, there were many carriages lined up to pay the toll. He could not help but sigh, "Brother Mo's idea of a brick road, the world does not understand. Let's not talk about other things, just the Chang 'an and Luoyang lines, the money is rolling in every day. In less than ten years, we will definitely be able to recoup the cost.
Mo Er immediately said proudly, "Young master Zu, you may not know, but the brick road is already two thousand li long. From Luoyang to Lan Zhou, it has already been paved."
Zu Mingjun's heart shook, and he said in surprise, "It has already been completed?"
Mo Er nodded, and said, "Chang 'an City has already sent news. The Ministry of Works has been working day and night, and has already completed five days ago."
The Longhai Line from Lan Zhou to Luoyang was the easiest section to pave. There were no large rivers, and the difficulty of the construction was very low. Moreover, the brick road was easy to pave. As long as there were enough red bricks and enough manpower, the entire line was finally completed in March.
Zu Mingjun nodded solemnly. No wonder Meton was so anxious to call him over. Once the brick road was opened, the Western Expedition would begin.
At Chang 'an City's West Gate, Li Shimin led a group of civil and military officials to gather at the West Gate. They looked towards the brick road outside the West Gate.
"Soon, the horse reported that the test carriage has already arrived at Baqiao." Duan Lun bowed respectfully to Li Shimin, but there was an unconcealable pride on his face.
When Mo Jiazi built the brick road in the south of the city, it could be said that it caused a sensation in Chang 'an. Now that the brick road had been built from Chang' an to Lanzhou, it was such a joyous occasion. Duan Lun directly copied Meton's method and held a ceremony for the opening of the road.
Baqiao was Li Shimin's blessed land. During the Wei River Alliance, Li Shimin had stopped 100,000 Turks at Baqiao and won a breather for the Tang dynasty. Duan Lun probably mentioned Baqiao to curry favor with Li Shimin.
Li Shimin nodded and took a deep breath. The Imperial Court had spent a lot of money building brick roads, and it was finally time to see results.
Just as everyone was about to lose their patience, a four-wheeled carriage suddenly sped over.
"They're here!" Duan Lun's eyes brightened.
The Chancellor jumped down from the carriage and bowed to Li Shimin and the other officials. "Greetings, Your Majesty! Greetings, Your Excellencies!"
This matter should have been done by someone else, but the Chancellor had volunteered to drive the carriage in order to show off to Li Shimin.
"The Minister set out from Lanzhou County, passing through Dingxi, Tianshui, and Chencang to reach Chang 'an in less than three days. The speed of the brick road is truly the first time the Minister has seen such a thing," the Chancellor excitedly said.
In order to reach Chang 'an as quickly as possible, he had constantly changed horses at the relay station, running more than ten horses to death in order to show off to Li Shimin.
"Good!" Li Shimin knew nothing of this, so he couldn't help but excitedly say, "Good!"
The distance from Lanzhou to Chang 'an was one thousand five hundred li, but it had only taken three days. This speed was probably the fastest in history.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty. From now on, the northwest is yours!" the officials congratulated. The speed of the brick road greatly increased the Imperial Court's control over the northwest.
Li Shimin appeared smug, but he modestly said, "To pacify the northwest, I'm afraid we still have to defeat Tuyuhun first."
"Your Majesty, as the saying goes, 'before the troops and horses move, the provisions must be prepared first.' Now that the brick road has been completed, the provisions must be prepared in advance," Assistant Minister Hou Junji said.
Li Shimin nodded and turned to Dai Zhou behind him, "Dear Minister Dai, please help me arrange the rations for the expedition to the west."
Dai Zhou stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, according to convention, each soldier in the army needs 1.5 catties of grain for three days, and 35 catties of grain for a month. The Imperial Court has two hundred thousand soldiers for the Western Expedition, so we need seven million catties of grain for a month."
Dai Zhou had learned from Meton and liked to list out detailed data to convince others.
"Seven million catties of grain!" Everyone couldn't help but twitch. If this was converted into money, it would be a huge fortune, but now it was all used on the Western Expedition.
"If it was before, we would need to recruit fifty thousand men and ten thousand carriages to ensure the passage of grain. It would take nearly a month and more than half of the grain would be transported to the border. But now that the brick road has been completed, and the four-wheeled carriages can carry up to five thousand catties, we only need 1,500 coachmen and four horses per carriage. We can reach the border in five days, and the consumption is less than ten percent," Dai Zhou said excitedly.
"Five days, and the consumption is less than ten percent!" Li Shimin was delighted. The cost of building the brick road was heart-wrenching, but the results were immediate.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty. The provisions are smooth. The Tang Dynasty will definitely win this Western Expedition." The officials immediately congratulated in unison.
The Tang Dynasty had just been established, and these old officials had experienced war. Naturally, they knew that once an expedition was launched, the consumption was not the soldiers' rations, but the consumption on the road.
When Emperor Yang of Sui went on an expedition to Goguryeo, it was a huge consumption that dragged down the Sui Dynasty bit by bit. Now that the brick road had been built, the loss of grain from Chang 'an to Lanzhou was at most less than ten percent. In the eyes of everyone, this was nothing.
Dai Zhou continued, "This is a month's worth of grain. The Western Expedition will take at least half a year, and the imperial court still needs to prepare six months' worth of provisions."
One month was seven million catties of grain. Six months was forty-two million catties of grain! Everyone gasped when they did the calculation. However, this was a critical time for the Western Expedition, so they naturally didn't say anything more.
"And this is only the requirement from Chang 'an to Lanzhou County. After the army enters Tuyuhun, there will be no brick road, and I'm afraid the consumption will skyrocket. In the opinion of the Minister, we need at least sixty million catties of grain to be absolutely safe," Dai Zhou reported.
Li Shimin nodded, turned his head and shouted, "Where is Su Dingfang?"
"Minister Su Dingfang kowtows in salute to Your Majesty!" Su Dingfang answered and stood at the end of the line.
"Pass my order. Su Dingfang is in charge of conscripting carriages and escorting the provisions of Taicang to Lanzhou first," Li Shimin shouted.
Taicang was the granary of Chang 'an. It was responsible for supplying the entire city with grain. However, the Western Expedition would probably empty Taicang.
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