"Son greets Imperial Father and Imperial Mother!" Meton and Princess Changle bowed solemnly in the Legislative Hall.
When Li Shimin saw Modun appear in front of him, he couldn't help but be speechless. "Modun, if I didn't count wrongly, you've already entered the palace three times in five days."
Meton said without shame, "Son-in-law, this is also because I miss my wife. As the saying goes, one day apart is like three autumns. Looking at it this way, Your Majesty will understand the feelings of the Minister of Foreign Affairs."
"One day apart is like three autumns?" Li Shimin couldn't help but laugh in anger, but he had to admit that Meton did have some charm every time he changed a poem without permission.
Princess Changle immediately blushed and couldn't help but draw a circle around Meton's waist.
Meton couldn't help but gasp in pain. It turned out that this skill didn't belong to any era or status. Almost every woman knew it. It was simply an innate skill.
"This child has already entered the palace for many days. It is time to go back. If Mother misses this child, this child can also enter the palace to visit Imperial Mother at any time," Princess Changle said.
Li Shimin suddenly felt like he was hit by ten thousand points. He suddenly felt that a grown girl couldn't be kept at home. He only felt that his beloved little cotton-padded jacket would probably never come back.
Empress Zhangsun saw this and hurriedly mediated, "Since Meton is here, how can he be in such a hurry to leave? Let's eat in the Legislative Hall today!"
"Eat!" Meton immediately felt flattered. He had eaten the food in the imperial kitchen before, but this was the first time he had attended a private banquet like this. Moreover, it was Empress Zhangsun who personally invited him.
"Then Son-in-law will accept deferentially." Meton immediately took advantage of the situation.
Meton knew that he could confront his father-in-law directly, but he couldn't not give face to his mother-in-law.
"Alright, then this empress will have the imperial kitchen prepare a few dishes." Empress Zhangsun nodded in satisfaction.
The reason why Meton was treated so well by Empress Zhangsun was because of this honeymoon trip. Anyone could see that Meton was extremely attentive to Princess Changle. Not to mention, he even gave her the perfume as a gift when he returned, which made Empress Zhangsun extremely satisfied. It must be known that other than Zhangsun Wuji, Meton was the first person that she personally invited to receive.
Although Li Shimin still didn't get along with Meton, he also knew that a married daughter was like spilled water. He could only let go now. Moreover, Empress Zhangsun had already spoken. He still had to give face to her.
Soon, following Empress Zhangsun's instructions, the imperial kitchen quickly became busy. Meton and the others were busy.
"According to the rumors on the streets, your newly built Crooked River Bridge actually built a pier in the river?" Li Shimin asked. The news of Meton building a pier in the river had already spread throughout Chang 'an City. Li Shimin naturally heard about it.
"There's actually such a thing?" Empress Zhangsun couldn't help but be surprised.
"Is there really such a thing?" Meton nodded and admitted without hesitation.
Li Shimin's face darkened. "This is your Mo Family's bridge building technique. A small Crooked River Bridge is so costly."
Although he didn't know how to build bridges, the previous Crooked River Bridge was an arch bridge that directly crossed the two sides. There was no need to build a pier in the river. In Li Shimin's view, it was simply a waste to use such an important reinforced concrete there.
"Father, Meton's move must have a deep meaning." Princess Changle defended Meton.
Li Shimin coldly snorted and said, "Why can't I see any deep meaning?"
Meton stopped Princess Changle from defending again. He took a deep breath and said, "Son-in-law believes that the length of an arch bridge that can cross the river like the Zhaozhou Bridge is already close to the limit of an arch bridge. Even if people improve it and the technology is more advanced, it can't exceed the Zhaozhou Bridge by much."
Li Shimin frowned and asked, "Even reinforced concrete can't do it?"
He had great hopes for reinforced concrete, but he didn't expect to hear such bad news from Meton.
Meton firmly shook his head and said, "Although it is stronger, it is still limited. Moreover, reinforced concrete is extremely heavy. Once the span is too long, the bridge will not be able to withstand it. In the future, there will be a disaster and the tragedy of the previous Crooked River Bridge will repeat itself."
The previous Crooked River Bridge was too long and without Li Chun's skills, it was destroyed in a short period of time. This was the reason why Meton wanted to repair the bridge today.
Li Shimin suddenly said, "So that's why you built a pier in the middle of the Crooked River."
Meton still shook his head and said, "That's not the case. If reinforced concrete was used to build an arch bridge on the Crooked River, it would be more than enough. However, what Son-in-law wants to conquer is not just the Crooked River, but the Wei River and the Yellow River, which are even wider than the Crooked River! This Crooked River Bridge is only Son-in-law's experimental product. "
Whenever Modun talked about his Ink Skills, his body would emit a confident glow that attracted people to him.
"Experimental product?" Li Shimin and Empress Zhangsun both looked at Meton with astonishment. Meton had spent so much effort to build a pier in the middle of the Crooked River just to test a new bridge construction technology. The price was too high.
"That's right! As long as the Crooked River Bridge is successful, the School of Mo will be able to summarize the technology of building piers in the river. No matter how much it costs, it will be worth it.
Your Majesty, think about it. No matter how wide the river is, as long as you build piers in the river during the dry season, and then use these piers as the foundation to pave the bridge deck, it won't be long before a bridge will span the entire river. The river, which was originally impossible to build a bridge on, will no longer be an obstacle. When the people who have traveled a long distance reach the riverbank, they will not need to get off the boat to cross the river. They only need to drive across the bridge. Originally, it would take two hours to cross the river, but now it only takes fifteen minutes, "Meton said proudly.
Li Shimin's breathing stopped. He couldn't help but be shocked by the prospects that Meton described. Everyone knew that compared to crossing by boat, the advantage of crossing by bridge was too great.
Empress Zhangsun's eyes lit up. It was impossible to build an arch bridge on a river that was too wide, but Meton had an ingenious idea. He had divided a long bridge into many small bridges. This way, the difficulty of building a bridge was greatly reduced. This way, as long as they could build piers in the river, no matter how wide the river was, a bridge could be built. Based on this, building piers in the river was the most important.
"Are you sure that piers can be built in the Wei River?" Li Shimin said with a serious expression.
Meton nodded solemnly and said, "Once the Crooked River Bridge is built, it won't be difficult to build piers in the dry season of the Wei River."
"What about the Yellow River?" Li Shimin suppressed his heartbeat and asked expectantly.
Meton thought for a while and said, "The Yellow River is filled with silt. It can be said that it is very difficult. However, the water level is not high during the dry season. If we continue to accumulate the technology of building piers, the Son-in-Law is confident that we can overcome these problems."
Li Shimin nodded slowly. If Meton had agreed, he would not have believed it. However, he believed that once the Tang dynasty mastered the technology of building piers in the river, building a bridge across the Yellow River would not be impossible. Meton's idea would come true one day.
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