The Ming Dynasty started with caution

Yan Chengjin took Emperor Hongzhi, Han Wen and others to Liangxiang.

Liu Jian was on duty in the cabinet, and Li Dongyang and Xie Qian followed him.

As Marvin got older, it was inconvenient for him to travel long distances.

Six carriages made the journey to Liangxiang, just to visit the Qihe River Bridge.

Emperor Hongzhi asked Yan Chengjin to ride in a carriage with him.

The carriage was not big, and with Li Dongyang on the side, Yan Chengjin could only huddle in the corner, and the experience was extremely poor.

"There are still so many merchants in Liangxiang. The business tax this year will be higher than in the old year, right?" Emperor Hongzhi opened the carriage curtain and asked with joy.

"I estimate that it will be two hundred thousand taels more than the old year."

Two hundred thousand taels?

A glimmer of light flashed in Emperor Hongzhi's eyes, ripples began to form in his heart, and he began to count quietly.

Suddenly, there was a whoosh beside the carriage, and a figure hurried past.

Emperor Hongzhi was startled. He glanced at the retreating figure and asked stammeringly: "Just... was that person just now the prince?"

"I don't know either..."

Xiao Jing's voice came from outside the carriage: "Reporting to Your Majesty, Your Highness."

Emperor Hongzhi suppressed his anger.

"If you don't fight for half a month, you'll come to Liangxiang again."

Yan Chengjin murmured in his heart that Zhu Houzhao came to Liangxiang again, probably because he made money and came to hunt for treasures.

The convoy moved slowly, and if Liangxiang hadn't built the road, it would have been even bumpier.

The sun was obscured by clouds, and the sky was a little cool. We were ready to go to Liangxiang. Emperor Hongzhi said: "Come down with me for a walk."

The carriage stopped, and Xiao Jing helped Emperor Hongzhi get out of the carriage.

Yan Chengjin, Li Dongyang and others also got out of the car.

No matter how much you disguise yourself, you can't hide your aura of being either rich or noble.

The merchants on the side looked at them a few more times, guessing that they were gentry from somewhere who came to Liangxiang to buy them.

"Is this the stone bridge in Liangxiang?"

Emperor Hongzhi stared blankly at the stone bridge in the distance.

The stone bridge is not long, about ten feet, and can accommodate three peace trucks running parallelly.

A river passes through Liangxiang. The surface of the river is sparkling and there are many boats passing by, just like a water town in the south of the Yangtze River.

"Liangxiang is still so lively. I haven't been here for a long time, but I can't recognize it anymore." Li Dongyang said with emotion.

"Your Majesty, why not go and see the stone bridge first?"

Several directors of the Ministry of Industry were a little excited.

It is really unbelievable that the stone bridge in this world can be made of blue bricks without using Sanhe soil.

Emperor Hongzhi nodded.

The group of people walked to the Hedgehog River. Emperor Hongzhi and others were looking at the scenery, but Gu Zuo lay down.

He found that this bridge was made of big stones. The filling between the stones was blue-white and contained gravel.

Yan Chengjin asked Mou Bin to notify Jin Yiwei and call Song Jing and Zhang Xian.

“You didn’t use glutinous rice mortar?”

Gu Zuo, the director of the Ministry of Industry, raised his head in shock and saw the same shock in the eyes of several directors.

They have repaired many palaces and bridges, and they can recognize it at a glance. It is not glutinous rice mortar, but it is extremely hard when pressed.

"Master Yan, is this... sacred soil?"

Song Jing bowed slightly. As the chief engineer of Liangxiang, he had to lecture to countless people every day.

You won't feel nervous when facing Emperor Hongzhi and his ministers.

Instead, he looked at Yan Chengjin a little worried, fearing that he would be blamed for not doing well.

"This is concrete."

"Really no need to use glutinous rice mortar?" Zeng Jian squatted on the ground and repeatedly touched the gaps between the stones.

"Xiaguan once said that science is a science that can change the world."

Yan Chengjin appropriately advertises science.

The most shocked ones were the people from the Ministry of Industry. They dealt with materials all day long and knew how important this move was to Ming Dynasty.

"Is this concrete expensive?" Zeng Jian asked nervously.

Emperor Hongzhi also looked at it. If it was too expensive, the Great Wall would not be built. It was two thousand miles long, and even if he wanted to resettle the refugees, he would be unable to do so.

"Your Majesty and Mr. Zeng will know just by looking at the Song family's heavenly craftsmanship."

Yan Chengjin ordered someone to bring Song Tiangong and said: "Concrete mainly uses limestone and kaolin. There are many in the capital, but coal costs some money."

Calcining lime and cement requires coal.

There is a lot of coal in Shanxi, which is mined by merchants.

Liangxiang has not yet intervened in the coal business, so all the coal is bought.

"When was this bridge built?" Li Dongyang asked.

Zhang Xian bowed and said: "Shortly after the waterway in Liangxiang was opened to ships, Xiaguan found that businessmen from the south needed ferries to cross the river, so he built this bridge."

When merchants from Hejian Prefecture come, if they don't take the ferry, they have to take a detour to Shuntian Prefecture, and then come to Liangxiang from Shuntian Prefecture.

"These lime and cement are available in Liangxiang?"

After Emperor Hongzhi saw Song's Tiangong, he probably understood how the concrete was obtained.

He knew about Lime. Yu Qian also wrote a poem.

Only this cement is the first time I have heard of it.

"There is too much smoke and dust from making lime and cement, so I ordered it to be shut down. There is no cement workshop in Liangxiang." Yan Chengjin said: "The Hetao is windy and sandy all year round, so it is suitable for building a cement factory."

Li Dongyang believed deeply: "With this concrete, the Great Wall in Liaodong can also be repaired."

Yan Chengjin looked at Emperor Hongzhi: "When I reported the accounts, I did not report the silver for the glutinous rice mortar, so I reported two million taels of silver.

It should be enough to build the Great Wall in the northwest. "

Emperor Hongzhi nodded slightly, looked at Han Wen and said, "What do you think of Hubu?"

"I... also think it should be enough."

Han Wen sighed deeply in his heart, it seemed that he could not escape from this situation.

Yan Chengjin's heart moved: "Your Majesty, I have something else to say."

Emperor Hongzhi and Li Dongyang looked at each other and smiled knowingly.

I always feel that this kid brought them to Liangxiang for some purpose.

"Instead of building the Great Wall, why not let the Liangxiang Chamber of Commerce help build a concrete plant in Hetao?"

When doing infrastructure construction, reinforced cement plants make money.

"The Liangxiang Chamber of Commerce sells refined salt, and now it wants to sell concrete. Is this the purpose of Lord Yan building the Great Wall?" A censor asked with a sneer.

Who are you...

Yan Chengjin looked at the censor woodenly. Seeing that he was standing behind Han Wen, he seemed to be from the Ministry of Revenue.

"From resettling refugees from Jingxiang to recommending Baoguogong to build the Great Wall, and now recommending Liangxiang Chamber of Commerce, Lord Yan, isn't it too coincidental?" Qin Hong asked.

Yan Chengjin fell into deep thought, frantically calculating what Qin Hong meant.

Since he recommended his father, he took away the appointment power of the Ministry of War. Qin Hong seemed quite dissatisfied with this.

The censors of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue seemed to have a deep hatred with him.

This time, the Ministry of Revenue was asked for 2 million taels of silver, and the old coffers were all emptied. Naturally, the Ministry of Revenue had resentment.

After a short moment, after analyzing the problem.

"I am for the Ming Dynasty."

"What a good one for the Ming Dynasty."

"Sir Qin, don't you believe that this policy can settle the refugees in Jingxiang?"

"I don't believe that there are millions of refugees in Jingxiang. You have been in the capital. How do you know the number of refugees in Jingxiang?"

Merchants are always not in the mainstream. Emperor Hongzhi, the king of a country, naturally does not want to talk about business: "This matter has been decided, don't argue, go to Liangxiang, I will see what the prince is doing."

Han Wen and Qin Hong walked together and walked behind.

Yan Chengjin walked in front. The Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War were not afraid of their opinions. They would feel comfortable if they wrote a letter of impeachment.

This concrete was made in Liangxiang, so it naturally belongs to the Liangxiang Chamber of Commerce.

Walking into the streets of Liangxiang.

Emperor Hongzhi asked: "Where is the prince?"

"Your Majesty, in the library." Mou Bin said.

When the group arrived at the library, Emperor Hongzhi stepped into the gate and heard Zhu Houzhao's voice, surrounded by a group of scholars.

Yan Chengjin was stunned. Zhu Houzhao wanted to make the rice flower business bigger and stronger?