Daming: I asked you to supervise the country, Daming is all crazy?

Chapter 120 Pass it on, this is left by the prince and grandson [Add more updates for the first leader, Tianzui Taoist! 】

Yingtian City was first built in the 26th year of Zhizheng (1366) of the Yuan Dynasty and completed in the 26th year of Hongwu (1393) of the Ming Dynasty, which lasted 28 years.

As the largest capital city in history, all cities in history are hard to come by.

It covers an area of ​​about 230 square kilometers, that is, almost 2 hectares, more than 34 mu.
The city wall of the capital city alone is more than 35 kilometers long, and the outer city wall is more than [-] kilometers long. It is truly the number one city in the world.

Yingtian City is adjacent to the Yangtze River and Xuanwu Lake in the north, and the Qinhuai River flows around the city in the south. During the Ming Dynasty, it was the economic center and cultural center of the Ming Dynasty, and it was also the political center and military center of the south.

It is also the most populous and largest city in the world at this time.

On the whole, it also changed the traditional rectangular city walls of the capitals of the past dynasties, but combined traditional ethics, astronomy, natural geography, and terrain defenses, which can be said to be unique.

This is why Zhu Zhanji sometimes admires his great grandfather.

Not to mention his legendary experience of conquering the world with a broken bowl.

In terms of many concepts, this great grandfather can be said to be very advanced, and his thinking is even more avant-garde.

After all, it takes a lot of courage to break the tradition and build a country's capital into a state that seems to have no rules at all.

But at this time, Zhou Chen admired the courage of Zhu Zhanji, the grandson of His Royal Highness.

Under the warm sun.

In Yingtian City, in the south of the city, outside the capital city, a group of craftsmen wearing uniform uniforms and imprinted with the name of Daming First Construction Group Company are holding many measuring tools, ropes, wooden rulers, etc. The cement road to the Yangtze River Wharf.

This distance is not far, about three or four kilometers, but it is the first concrete road in Daming.

As the main city gate leading to the Yangtze River Wharf in the north of the capital city, the importance of Yifeng Gate is beyond doubt. A large number of horse-drawn carriages and trucks pass through in a year. This road is under repair.

Otherwise, a large number of sunken axle marks will be formed, and once it rains, it will cause rainwater to silt up and block the road.

Zhou Chen chose this road as the experimental place for the first concrete road, which is also the result of Zhou Chen's thinking.

After all, the effect of cement roads is only speculation at present, and everything cannot be concluded until it is actually applied in practice.

Taking this road related to the Yangtze River Water Transport as a choice is not only a bold attempt, but also a test of the cement road.

Moreover, this road is very short, so the construction period will be shortened, and the results can be seen in a short time.

After several days of surveying and mapping, the cement road is basically planned.

In order not to affect the water transportation, with the cooperation of Gu Zuo, a cement road with a width of 20 meters and a length of more than two kilometers was planned next to the original road.

Some Yingtian civilians were also hired by the construction company to level the foundation of this newly planned concrete road, as well as clean up and build the roadbed.

Unlike in the past where soldiers took care of the civilian husbands, the construction company arranged special craftsmen to be responsible for command and management.

These people have clear identities and wear special helmets made of bamboo on their heads.

He was originally a craftsman, so he was naturally experienced in these things. Although it was his first time commanding, he was able to do everything with ease. Compared with guarding soldiers, it was obviously more efficient.

For these craftsmen, some problems can be seen at a glance.

Under the command of these craftsmen, some folks also transported various stones in an orderly manner, and then paved the entire road.

Even in the winter, as an important water transportation road, there are still many merchants and pedestrians who come and go here in a day.

Seeing the situation here, these people are also very curious.

After some inquiring, I learned that the imperial court planned to let some construction company under the name of the Ministry of Industry build a new road.
But these folks didn't know the specifics. They asked the craftsmen who belonged to the construction company, but each of these craftsmen kept tight-lipped and didn't mention this matter at all.

In this way, what is not available will always be a commotion, and some people will be even more curious. In addition, seeing the craftsmen of the construction company wearing special overalls and special bamboo hats, there will be a lot of good things every day. People are watching here.

Because it belongs to the first cement road, Zhou Chen also attaches great importance to this place, so it took a lot of time to plan.

But after the planning is over, it is not troublesome to build, and now that the construction company is not short of money and directly employs a large number of civilians, the two kilometers of roads and the leveling of the roadbed take almost only one day. Get it right.

Efficiency is not bad.

As for the cement matter, Zhu Zhanji had already asked the Ministry of Industry to build a new cement plant again.

The amount of cement produced every day is not small, and it is no problem to build a two-kilometer road.

And when Zhou Chen completed the basic preparations and started laying cement, Zhu Zhanji, who had just returned from Xiaotangshan, also happened to get the news.

So he asked Zhang Mao to drive the carriage over.

After all, it was Daming's first cement road, and Zhu Zhanji also attached great importance to it.

Although Zhu Zhanji has always kept a low profile, Zhou Chen asked Gu Zuo to arrange a large number of yamen servants to maintain order in order not to affect the construction of the concrete road due to the large crowd of onlookers.

When Zhu Zhanji came, this place had already been taken over by the yamen servants of Yingtianfu, and the people and merchants who came and went were driven to a place three meters away from the cement road foundation.

When Zhu Zhanji arrived, Zhou Chen and Gu Zuo came to see him one after another.

"Minister Zhou Chen sees His Royal Highness Taisun!"

"Your Majesty, Gu Zuo, see His Highness the Grandson!"

Zhu Zhanji smiled at the two of them, motioning for them to be excused. After getting off the carriage, he walked directly to the laid roadbed.

Gu Zuo followed Zhu Zhanji and said:

"His Royal Highness, His Royal Highness has just been notified of this matter, and His Royal Highness will come later."

Zhu Zhanji nodded when he heard the words, not paying much attention to such things.

Naturally, my stupid father also knows about the cement.

I also know that Zhu Zhanji plans to demolish the dilapidated houses of civilians in Yingtian City and build cement houses and cement roads.

So he notified his stupid father about this, probably because his stupid father gave the order in advance.

Zhu Zhanji chatted casually with the two, then looked at Zhou Chen and asked, "Is the cement at the cement factory ready?"

"Back to His Royal Highness, it is ready. So far, the cement factory can produce four thousand stones of cement every day. The craftsmen of the minister and the construction company have calculated many times that it will take about four hundred stones to build a cement road that is one mile long and seven feet wide. There is a surplus of stone cement, and about four miles from Yifengmen to the wharf requires [-] stone cement, which can be produced in less than half a day!"

Zhou Chen said.

"That's right. The output of the cement factory can be increased. Although four thousand stones of cement is enough for now, more will definitely be needed in the future. You also need to pay more attention to the training of various craftsmen."

Zhu Zhanji nodded, and while the two were talking, they saw a carriage dedicated to the royal family slowly driving out of Yifeng Gate, accompanied by a large number of accompanying imperial troops.

This battle is not small, whether it is the common people or the people on Zhu Zhanji's side, they are all attracted.

Seeing this battle, the corner of Zhu Zhanji's mouth twitched.

Now the entire Yingtian can use this battle, except for his silly father and him, there is no third person.

After all, the second uncle Zhu Gaoxu was in the army of the Northern Expedition, and the third uncle Zhu Gaosui was in Yingtian, but now he has temporarily become a refugee and was arranged by him to the greenhouse.

Although Zhu Zhanji was informed by Gu Zuo that his stupid father was coming, he never thought that his stupid father would engage in such a big fight.

After hesitating for a while, Zhu Zhanji walked over with Zhou Chen and Gu Zuo.

As soon as he walked over, Zhu Gaochi exposed most of his body from the carriage.

Zhu Zhanji was about to speak, but Zhu Gaochi had already got off the carriage with the help of several attendants.

Seeing this, Zhu Zhanji hurried over to help.

Seeing this, Zhou Chen and Gu Zuo immediately stepped forward to salute:
"Chen Zhou Chen/Gu Zuo sees His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

"You two are free, ha ha!"

Zhu Gaochi raised his hand with a smile, exempting the two of them, and then said with a smile:

"You don't have to pay attention to my side, what should you do, I just came to see and talk to my grandson!"

Hearing Zhu Gaochi's words, Zhu Zhanji rolled his eyes.

Let's see, are you still engaged in such a big fight?

Zhu Gaochi was talking, then looked at his son again, and asked:

"Zhanji, I heard that the Ministry of Industry has started surveying and mapping this cement road a few days ago. Is this going to start construction today?"

"Zhou Chen's side is almost ready. If there are no accidents, it should be completed in two or three days."

Zhu Zhanji nodded and explained, and then said:
"At present, the roadbed from Yifengmen to the wharf has been leveled out. Now it is only necessary for Zhou Chen to transport all the cement, and then the work can start. If you want to see it, I will let Zhou Chen start. .”

"Well, yes, let's start if that's the case!" Zhu Gaochi nodded immediately when he heard the words, and then asked with some doubts:

"I've heard about this cement for a long time. I've always heard people say that it can condense sand into stone, but I haven't seen the real thing. Do you mean this thing can really condense sand into stone?"

"This is natural, otherwise why do you think I'm working so hard to fix this?"

Zhu Zhanji was very dissatisfied with his stupid father's questioning, so he rolled his eyes, and then said to Zhou Chen beside him:

"Let's start, start laying from Yifeng Gate."

After Zhu Zhanji's words fell, Zhou Chen immediately responded respectfully. Following the transmission, some craftsmen soon began to command the battlefield.

The planks, sand, and cement that had been prepared a long time ago began to be delivered one after another.

The division of labor in each group is also very clear. The person responsible for fixing the formwork began to fix the wooden boards on both sides of the road with iron nails.

Some sand and gravel were transported to the center of the road under the command of a few craftsmen who are familiar with cement, and then the cement transported by carts was quickly put aside.

There is no shortage of water in Yingtian, not to mention that the north of Yingtian City relies on the Yangtze River and Xuanwu Lake. A small canal has been dug out long ago, directly diverting the water from the nearest Yangtze River.

When everything was ready, some craftsmen began to go into battle by themselves, mixing the truckloads of cement with sand and gravel according to a certain ratio.

After the mixture is evenly mixed, use a shovel to dig a large pit in the middle of these mixed materials, and add an appropriate amount of water from the ditch.

The water naturally began to soak, and some civilian men who received orders immediately began to shovel the dry place to the top of the puddle.

With these craftsmen present, although some civilians were at a loss for such an operation, it was still very fast, and piles of concrete appeared on the wide roadbed.

"The pouring begins. The folks are responsible for paving the concrete all over the road, and the craftsmen are responsible for leveling. According to the pre-planning, the road surface is flat with the formwork. There must be no depressions, no holes, and no protrusions. It must be leveled everywhere. The road is every two feet. The pre-prepared wooden boards are partitioned, leaving gaps, and the center is also the same..."

Everything was ready, and a man wearing a helmet dyed red came out immediately.

Zhu Gaochi watched with relish. He had already noticed that some people here were wearing hats.

I just didn't pay attention at first, but now I saw a person wearing a different hat stand up, and immediately asked curiously:
"Son, why does this person wear a different hat from everyone else?"

Zhu Zhanji on the side smiled and said: "That's because he is a manager of a construction company, and his status here can be regarded as the commander in charge of overall planning."

When Zhu Gaochi heard this, he felt that it was very similar to the official clothes of the imperial court, so he asked, "What about those ordinary hats? What do they represent?"

"Naturally, they are craftsmen of construction companies!"

Zhu Zhanji said.

With the loud shout of the red hat, under the command of the craftsman, the civilian husband immediately began to transport the mixed concrete to other places on the road.

Some craftsmen began to take out some tools, and someone was in charge of using a pure iron rod that was sharpened at one end, and began to tinker with the cemented places one by one, making sure that there was no gap left in the concrete.

And some craftsmen started to level and smooth the road with special shovels after these people had done the tinkering.

The scene was in full swing. Under the orderly management, it was busy but not chaotic.

Everything is like a machine, with a clear division of labor, and the pouring work is completed extremely quickly.

The formwork was built in the front, followed by mixing and pouring of concrete.

Every two feet or so, there is a mold, which is also separated by a special thin formwork in the middle, with a thickness of about two minutes. When it solidifies in the future, the formwork is removed, and these are two concrete blocks.
This is to prevent thermal expansion and cold contraction, causing the road surface to be squeezed, pulled, and cracked. Although Zhou Chen didn't know why, he still strictly followed Zhu Zhanji's requirements.

Of course, this is not the end here. After the craftsmen who smoothed the road are finished, another group of craftsmen will appear to inspect the road that has just been plastered.

These guys would take some standard straight wood and run it across the road to make sure there's no unevenness in the road,

In order to avoid water accumulation in the future, or severe bumps when the carriage is driving.

Although everything looks troublesome, in fact, compared with using bricks and stones to pave the way, the construction of cement roads is much more convenient and faster.

Not only are concrete roads faster to build, but they are also less prone to damage than masonry.

The mixing ratio of cement and sand is also the most suitable ratio obtained by the craftsmen of the construction company after professional experiments these days.

Not only saves more cement, but also is extremely firm.

Under normal circumstances, even if a heavy object of tens of stones is run over, it is impossible to leave the slightest trace.

One stone is 150 catties, and dozens of stones are almost several tons.

For this era, a carriage specially used to pull goods, even if it is full of goods, will never exceed a thousand catties.

And even for some special carriages, the heaviest will not exceed one or two tons.

Not to mention whether the wheels of the carriage can bear it, it is simply not something that one or two horses can pull.

And such a situation is naturally no problem for cement roads.

Especially for this era, a large number of carriages are made of wooden wheels, and the hardness and cement are not a concept at all.

It is also extremely difficult to cause damage to the cement road.

Of course, even so, it does not mean that the cement road will not be damaged. In some special cases, the road surface of the cement road will also be damaged after a long period of use.

However, compared with the expensive masonry, the cost of cement road repair is undoubtedly much lower.

So in any case, whether it is a brick road, a stone road, or other dirt roads,

The advantages of cement roads over these roads are beyond doubt, and it will be inevitable to replace these roads.

Zhu Gaochi was a little far away at first, but after seeing the craftsmen repairing a section of the road in a short time, he walked over immediately.

With the support of a few attendants, some of the novelty squatted down, curiously looking at the newly poured concrete pavement in front of him.

There was some curiosity in his eyes, and he subconsciously wanted to touch it with his hands. Before Zhu Zhanji could stop it, he saw a chubby handprint left on the newly leveled concrete road.

Zhu Zhanji: "..."

He glanced at the chubby silly father, and then at the chubby handprints on the cement road.

Zhu Zhanji seriously suspected that this stupid father did it on purpose.

"this………"

Zhu Gaochi looked at his masterpiece with a dazed expression, then looked at Zhu Zhanji and said:

"Didn't it say that this thing is as solid as a rock?"

Zhu Zhanji: "..."

Zhou Chen, who was on the side, saw the speechless expression on the face of Zhu Zhanji, the grandson, and it was a little funny, so he explained to Zhu Gaochi:

"His Royal Highness, this cement needs time to set, and it will become as hard as a stone after the water in it dries naturally."

"this………"

Zhu Gaochi was stunned when he heard the words, and then he looked at Zhou Chen with some embarrassment, then at the handprints on the road, and said:

"Then how about I have someone restore this place to its original state?"

As soon as Zhou Chen was about to speak, Zhu Zhanji rolled his eyelids, then walked up with a blank expression, and without thinking about it, he slapped his hand on the concrete road, and then, as if he didn't feel satisfied, he slapped another footprint.

Zhu Gaochi: "..."

Zhou Chen: "..."

Gu Zuo: "..."

The three looked at Zhu Zhanji blankly, but Zhu Zhanji curled his lips indifferently and said:

"Hand down, the handprints and footprints here were left by the prince and grandson in the 12th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty!"

(End of this chapter)