The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 266 Empress Dowager Li is unwilling to be lonely

October is the harvest season.

The maple leaves in Yanshan have turned red, and the ears of rice and wheat in the fields have also turned golden yellow.

All the soldiers of the Beijing camp have also rushed back.

The military farms in Shuntian Prefecture and Yongping Prefecture were full of people busy harvesting.

After Wanli returned to Beijing, he did not show up for a month or so.

What is he doing?

He finally showed up early in the morning around noon.

However, he did not summon the court officials to discuss anything.

He led tens of thousands of imperial guards and cavalrymen and rode out directly from Xi'an Gate and galloped towards Deshengmen in the north.

Moreover, he was not wearing the imperial robe, but the military uniform of an imperial guard officer.

What is he going to do?

Tens of thousands of imperial guards and light cavalry galloped all the way out of Deshengmen, passed Changping Prefecture and Huairou, and entered the Mountain Resort.

In fact, he came to see something.

This thing is a mixer and roller used to build asphalt roads.

After Yongnianbo Wang Wei followed him back, he had been busy building this thing in the Mountain Resort, and now it was finally completed.

What is this thing like?

On the avenue leading from the south gate of the Mountain Resort to Miyun County, a strange carriage was parked on the side of the road, and Yongnian Earl Wang Wei was standing beside the carriage waiting.

Wanli saw it as soon as he rode his horse into the south gate.

He couldn't wait to ride over, waved his hands repeatedly to let everyone off the hook, then jumped off his horse and came closer to take a closer look.

This thing already has the flavor of later-generation machinery.

Behind the carriage was an iron roller as thick as a waist, and at both ends of the iron roller were connected to the front frame with iron arms as thick as arms.

The frame is like a large, long iron bench, made entirely of steel. People can sit on it, both in the front and back, and five or six people can sit side by side without any problem.

None of this is the point.

Because they already had this kind of iron roller for rolling the road, they just changed the connection method to connect it to the frame.

The focal point of this carriage is a bizarrely shaped iron barrel between the iron rollers and the frame.

The iron barrel was connected to the thick footboard at the rear of the frame. Its height was roughly flush with the frame, but its bottom was only a foot above the ground.

This iron barrel is about half a meter wide, and its length is flush with the car body. The overall height seems to be less than half a meter, and it is divided into two layers.

The lower floor is empty, with iron doors on both sides.

There is also an iron door on the upper floor, but it is at the top, just like the lid of a box, the kind that flips up.

Inside the box above is a solid iron rod as thick as an arm, with many small iron rods as thick as fingers inserted on it. These small iron rods are bent like fish hooks and are connected to each other on the outside with chains and wheel axles.

Moreover, there is a downward sloping chute at the back of the upper layer, and the chute is only about a foot high from the ground.

Obviously, the lower layer is used to add coal to the fire, and the upper layer is used to mix asphalt and gravel.

The mixed asphalt and gravel can slide evenly onto the road surface through the chute at the back. The asphalt and gravel that slide onto the road surface will then be flattened by the iron rollers at the back.

To be honest, this thing gives people a feeling of transcending time.

In fact, there is nothing high-tech here. There is only a stirrer and the sprocket and chain of the wheel axle that have some technical content.

It is said that sprockets and chains were invented before the Han Dynasty.

It was only when Wanli heard from Yongnian Earl Wang Wei that he came up with the idea of ​​this machine for repairing asphalt roads.

Question, does this thing work?
He carefully examined the sprocket and chain, which were somewhat different in appearance from those of later generations, and then asked, "Father-in-law, is there going to be any problem here?"

Yongnian Earl Wang Wei shook his head repeatedly and said, "No, no, I had someone test it before installing it. Besides, the carriage is several miles away from the workshop, so there is no problem at all."

Then try it.

If this thing works, building an asphalt road will be much simpler. The young and strong men who were recruited will hardly have to worry about the asphalt surface. They just need to dig out the roadbed and flatten it, which is even simpler than building a stone road.

Wanli looked at the firewood, coal, gravel and brick-like asphalt that had been prepared on the side, and waved his hand decisively, "Then let's start."

Upon hearing this, Yongnianbo Wang Wei immediately began to light the firewood, burn the stove, add coal, and throw asphalt bricks on it.

These craftsmen worked incredibly fast. Within a quarter of an hour, the asphalt on top was burning and smoking.

Next comes the pouring of gravel.

This carriage was so finely made that the craftsman could stand on the pedals and pour baskets of gravel into the mixer on top without any effort.

Once the gravel is poured, the carriage will start moving. They use the pulling force of the horse-drawn wheels to mix the gravel and asphalt.

The carriage was so big and heavy that one horse definitely couldn't pull it, so they used two horses.

The two craftsmen sitting in front of the carriage gently shook the reins and shouted, and the two horses slowly moved forward. The mixer started to turn, and the gravel and asphalt inside must have been mixed quickly.

Upon seeing this, Yongnianbo Wang Wei quickly ordered the craftsmen to drive the carriage onto the excavated roadbed, and then ordered two craftsmen to pull out the pin on the iron plate of the slide.

"Crash", the black gravel inside slid down quickly, and soon was all turned out by the mixing roller.

The fall was too violent. When the iron rollers at the back pressed down, a lot of gravel was pressed out of the baffles on both sides.

As the carriage passed, an asphalt road several meters long and wide was almost paved. However, the gravel pressed out on both sides was scattered all over the ground.

Seeing this, Yongnianbo Wang Wei couldn't help but say awkwardly, "Oh, Your Majesty, I didn't expect the gravel to come out so quickly. A lot of it is wasted. How about I order them to shovel it back into the mixer?"

This is not okay.

Wanli shook his head slightly and said, "Father-in-law, you can't open the baffle at the back all at once. You need to make a slide like a punch, and then use iron gears to drive the baffle up. That way, you can make the opening as big as you want, and the road surface as thick as you want."

Upon hearing this, Yongnian Earl Wang Wei nodded in understanding and said, "Your Majesty is wise. I understand."

It is not easy to make such a road-building machine these days.

Wanli reminded him again: "When the carriages are actually used to build the road, the coal, gravel, and asphalt should be placed along the roadbed. This way, we don't have to wait for people to carry them back and forth."

Yongnian Earl Wang Wei nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

Wanli thought for a moment and then asked, "How many sets of this kind of carriage can be made in a day?"

How many sets of this thing are sold per day?
Yongnian Earl Wang Wei said carefully, "Your Majesty, many of the iron plates on this carriage are hammered out without molds. I estimate that if I can make a set in five days, it would be good enough."

This won't work. If the roads connecting the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty were to be built, no one would know how many such carriages would be needed. Moreover, many places outside the Great Wall have no access to waterways, so this kind of road is even more important.

Wanli said without hesitation: "Then make the molds. All the plates will be made with molds. How many sets do you think you can make in a day?"

How many molds does that require?
The boards here are not ordinary big.

Yongnianbo Wang Wei felt a headache just thinking about it, but he still seriously estimated: "If all of them are processed with molds, then we should have no problem making two or three sets a day."

That's more or less.

Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Okay, then three carriages a day. In addition, each carriage will be equipped with a special road roller. Hurry and prepare them. I want all the dirt roads in the capital to be paved with asphalt before the New Year."

Yongnian Earl Wang Wei quickly bowed and said, "Your humble servant obeys your order."

After Wanli had given instructions, he led the imperial guards on horseback back to the palace. Unexpectedly, Luo Sigong had been waiting outside the imperial study for a long time.

He hurriedly took Luo Sigong into the imperial study and asked, "What's the matter?"

Luo Sigong said carefully: "Your Majesty, how did the news from the palace get out? I have found out something."

Just tell me if you find out.

Wanli urged, "What are the details?"

This one.

Luo Sigong hesitated for a moment, but still gritted his teeth and said, "It seems that the Empress Dowager's people deliberately spread this matter."

Empress Dowager Li?
Is this woman unwilling to be lonely again?

It wasn’t enough that we dealt with the Prince of Wuqing last time, right?
Upon hearing this, Wanli couldn't help but frown slightly.

(End of this chapter)