Back to the Song Dynasty as a tyrant

On April [-]th, a beautiful early summer morning, Zhao Ning summoned Zhao Ding and Zhang Jun after breakfast.

"I have seen the officials."

"Let's go to Gewuyuan. Today, I will show the two of you the latest novelty invented by Gewuyuan."

"I don't know what it is?" Zhang Jun asked.

"You'll know when you arrive."

Soon, Junchen and his party arrived at Gewuyuan.

Chen Gui is waiting for Sheng Jia at the door.

"See Your Majesty."

"There's no need to be too polite, what do I want?"

"Inside." Chen Gui said.

"Go and have a look."

Chen Gui took Zhao Ning and others to the backyard, where there were quite a few people.

"Official, this way please."

Zhao Ning walked along with Chen Gui. On the school field in front, there was a square pillar, not too high, about half a meter, dark gray.

"Official, here is what you want."

Zhao Ding and Zhang Jun looked at each other in blank dismay, not knowing what it was in front of them, and it seemed to be nothing special, so they asked Zhao Guanjia to bring the two big men from the East Mansion and the West Mansion to visit early in the morning.

Chen Gui presented a hammer, Zhao Ning took it, and knocked the hammer on the square pillar.

With a bang, shallow cracks appeared on it.

"The official family..."

Zhao Ding was shocked, but saw that Zhao Ning went down with the hammer again, the shallow pit became deeper, and there were more broken marks.

Regardless of Zhao Ding and Zhang Jun's dissuasion, Zhao Ning hammered several times in a row before breaking a small piece of the cube's pillar.

Zhao Ning wiped the sweat from his forehead and seemed very satisfied with a smile on his face.

He said: "Great Minister, Zhang Xianggong, take a look."

"Official, this is?"

"Chen Qing, tell me."

Chen Gui said: "You two gentlemen, this thing is called cement."

"cement?"

Next, stereotypes began to be introduced in detail.

After listening, Zhang Jun said in surprise: "Isn't this the lime mortar used for bricklaying?"

Lime mortar was first used in the Song Dynasty, but it was not widely used. After all, in this era, many city walls were made of rammed earth.

"It's stronger than lime mortar, and it can be laid on the ground to form a smooth path."

"Pave the road!" Zhang Jun bent down in shock, looking at the cement carefully.

Zhao Ding also felt that his view of the world had been refreshed, and he asked excitedly, "How much is the production cost of this thing?"

"From the current point of view, the production cost is very high, and it will cost 500 guan to pave a mile of road!"

"This..." Zhao Ding shook his head, "This is too expensive."

The road for one mile is 500 guan, and it is 1200 miles from Tokyo to Chang'an, which costs 60 guan and 6 million Wen.

An ordinary clerk in Tokyo City earns twice a month, and one mile is their monthly income of 250.

No wonder Zhao Ding wanted to say it was expensive.

This is simply throwing money away.

"How is this thing made so that it is so expensive?" Zhang Jun asked curiously.

"Limestone, clay, and iron ore," said Chen Gui in very simple terms, "the limestone and clay are ground together into raw material, and then the raw material is calcined until it is partially or completely melted, called clinker, and finally the clinker and Iron powder or iron slag are ground together to get cement.”

"So simple?" Zhao Ding asked in surprise.

"It's really simple, but it took us two years to form this method." Chen Gui said with emotion, "At first, the official asked us to make a kind of solid soil that can pave roads. He mentioned limestone, so we started try."

Zhao Ning stopped and couldn't help but nodded.

The old-fashioned production method is certainly different from that of the 21st century. It can be said that it is more primitive, and the quality is definitely not comparable to that of the 21st century, but it is definitely enough for this era.

The method looks simple, but starting from scratch is the most difficult.

Uncertain whether this kind of cement really exists in the world, Gewuyuan's exploration is to continuously add various things to fuse with limestone.

Until the increase is extremely complex, and finally slowly cut and adjusted.

"If so, the manufacturing cost shouldn't be so expensive." Zhao Ding asked curiously.

"The main reason is that there are not many raw materials on the market at present, and the labor and scattered transportation costs for collecting raw materials are quite a lot. Moreover, a large amount of coal is required for calcination, and the price of coal is extremely expensive."

"So, as long as the quantity of limestone, clay and iron ore is increased to form an orderly and stable supply, the production cost can be reduced?"

"Yes." Chen Gui said, "If the quantity of coal is also increased, the cost will be further reduced."

"How much?"

"Including labor, the total cost per mile is about 100 guan, which is the lowest."

"If this is the case, the 1200-mile journey from Tokyo to Chang'an will cost more than 12 guan." Zhao Ding said.

Zhao Ning said: "The road is complicated, and it should cost at least 20 guan. If it is subcontracted by private private companies, it may cost 25 guan."

"But spending 25 guan to build a smooth road to Chang'an, the income must be far more than 25 guan."

"So it seems that this is a harmless thing?"

Zhao Ning said: "Not only is it beneficial and harmless, but if cement can be produced in large quantities and paved between every state capital in the Song Dynasty, what will the future look like?"

Zhao Ding and Zhang Jun were stunned for a moment.

If so many such roads are paved, the business of the entire Song Dynasty will be completely revitalized.

The transportation cost is greatly reduced, and the goods are greatly circulated.

"A lot of coal is needed." Chen Gui smiled bitterly, "A lot of iron ore is also needed, and more money is needed."

"I heard that there are many coal mines on Hedong Road, and you can send people there to dig more."

"I also heard that some officials on Hedong Road mentioned it a few months ago." Zhao Ding said, "But the number may not be so large, and it is not enough to support it."

"Then dig deeper." Zhao Ning emphasized, "Dig deeper and have a look."

Zhao Ding nodded, and said: "I will arrange a trial."

"Chen Qing."

"The minister is here."

"As for the cement, we should lay it up first, from Tokyo to Handan."

"Officials, act now, will the secret be leaked?"

Zhao Ning said with a smile: "The construction of the cement road requires the participation of as many people as possible. Are you afraid that others will not know?"

Chen Gui said: "The minister refers to being stolen by the secret work of the Jinren."

"Yuan is too much to worry about." Zhao Ding said, "Once the cement road is laid, it is very easy for the Jinren to know carefully. There is no need to be prepared. The laying of the cement road does not depend on your formula, but on the scale of the raw materials. Mining, the amount of raw materials will increase greatly, and the production cost will decrease. This is a major event that requires the cooperation of multiple parties, and it cannot be achieved by mastering the formula."

"What the great minister said is that the subordinate officials are worrying too much."

"Let's split up. Chen Qing personally supervised the construction of the first cement road. It doesn't matter if it is more expensive. Only when we act now and the court asks the people to purchase a large amount of raw materials, more people will be willing to mine those materials and further form industries. If the imperial court does not act, there will be no profit to be made, and the people will naturally not act."

"The officials are right."

Chapter 1229 Qin Hui Fans the Flames (Second Change)

While everyone was discussing, Gao Lian quickly ran to the neighborhood with his dress in hand.

Zhao Ning turned around and glanced at Gao Qiu, beckoning him to come over.

Gao Qiu just came over.

"what's up?"

"Officials, Japan has sent good news. Han Shuai has defeated all the armed resistance of Iwami in Japan and won the control of Yinshan."

Gao Lian handed over the good news.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jun, Zhao Ding, and Chen Gui immediately expressed surprise on their faces.

"Okay! Han Liangchen has to go out and take it down so quickly, and he has lived up to my expectations of him!"

Zhang Jun said: "Officials, this incident may cause great repercussions in Japan and Tokyo."

Zhao Ding nodded, he obviously agreed with Zhang Jun's statement, he said: "After all, our country has trade with Japan now, Zhang Jun's memorandum from Hangzhou also shows that many people in Hangzhou government are against it. It goes without saying that Tokyo is going to war with Japan.”

"This is a major national event. How could it be messed up because of some people's opposition? It was Japan who deceived me first!"

"I think we should look at what the Japanese lord said first. I heard that Japan is a barren land except for gold and silver." Zhao Ding said, "At present, Ishijian country is the most useful to us."

"No, there are still Sado Gold Mountains." Zhao Ning's eyes became fanatical, "I have long heard that there are many gold mountains in Sado Kingdom, as long as the Japanese ruler can cede these two places to Song Dynasty, I can stop the war with them. But if he insists on continuing to increase troops, the imperial court should also be ready to increase troops at any time! Send an order to Han Shizhong, if Japan does not follow, directly send troops to Kyoto, Japan! Destroy Xiaori... Japan, which is living a good life!"

"Yes!"

When returning from Gewuyuan to Wende Hall, Zhao Ning found that Qin Hui was waiting outside Wende Hall.

"I see you, Your Majesty."

"Go in and talk."

Qin Hui followed Zhao Guan's family into Wende Hall.

"What are you looking for?"

"Your Majesty, here are the details of the people who immigrated from Liangguang Road, Fujian Road and Zhejiang Road to the South China Sea in the past two years."

Qin Hui submitted a memorial letter.

After opening it, Zhao Ning was a little surprised: "There are so many people?"

"Within two years, more than 200 million people officially registered to go south, which is a very scary volume." Qin Hui said in a dignified tone.

"how do I say this?"

"The South China Sea is too far away from the capital, and a large number of people have migrated to the South China Sea, where commerce is booming. If things go on like this, a huge force will inevitably form in the South China Sea in the future. This force will secretly prepare troops. Over time, it will break away from the control of the imperial court, and may even monopolize the sea. Silk Road, this is not good for the court."

Zhao Ning was lost in thought.

In fact, he has been thinking about these issues for a long time.

With the expansion of the territory of the Song Dynasty, this problem became more and more prominent.

In fact, whether it is the South China Sea, Japan, or the Western Regions in the future, they are all facing this problem.

With the current productivity of Song Dynasty, it is impossible to effectively control the more distant territory.

For example, the current management of Annan is actually a restraint, and the management of the South China Sea is also a restraint.

The so-called detention is similar to local self-government, where the imperial court sends important officials to station in localities.

"What's your plan?"

"The minister feels that it is time to entrust the enfeoffment."

"Partition?"

"Yes."

"How to divide it?"

"At present, the South China Sea is the farthest and the most difficult to manage. We need a highly respected member of the royal family to go there, so that the connection between the South China Sea and the imperial court can be quickly strengthened."

"Then who do you think is appropriate to send?" Zhao Ning asked intentionally.

"Your Majesty is wise, what you think is far beyond what I can do, and I am dull, so I dare not speak nonsense."

"You threw me a problem, intentionally made it difficult for me, but didn't help me provide a solution?"

Qin Hui was frightened by Zhao Guan's statement, and immediately said: "I am stupid, among the princes, I am afraid that only the king of Liao is old enough to take on great responsibilities."