People in the Tang Dynasty, Jian'an style

As the day of expedition was getting closer, Li Shimin frequently summoned Cheng Yaojin and Niu Jinda to the palace to discuss the matter of sending troops to Longyou.

Li Wenbin was also considered a "senior general", so he was among those summoned.

One day, after everyone had finished discussing things, Li Shimin suddenly thought of something and asked Niu Jinda, "I wonder what the road conditions are like in Longyou recently? Can the transportation of food and grass still be supplied?"

"Your Majesty, although the Qiang people are brave and valiant, they are nothing but a bunch of chickens and dogs to our Tang Dynasty. But the food and grass must go before the army moves. If we want to send troops to Longyou, we must first solve the problem of food and grass."

Li Shimin pondered for a while, then suddenly turned to Fang Xuanling and asked, "Xuanling, I remember that two years ago, Qinzhou organized people to repair the roads. Has the traffic situation improved now?"

"This..." Fang Xuanling smiled bitterly when Li Shimin mentioned this matter. "Your Highness, Qinzhou did organize hundreds of thousands of people to build roads two years ago, but the roads that had just been built became muddy and difficult to travel after being washed by rain. Now most of them are abandoned and most places are impassable."

In ancient times, roads were all rammed earth, and the most feared thing was erosion by rain. The Zhuque Street in Chang'an City was paved with bricks and stones, but it was only one street. If all the roads in the Tang Dynasty were paved with bricks and stones, it would probably not be completed even if the Tang government went bankrupt.

"Hiss~" After hearing Fang Xuanling's words, everyone present took a deep breath. The roads built by hundreds of thousands of people were all destroyed by rain in less than two years. Before, they only knew that there was a lot of rain in the south, but they didn't expect it to be so severe.

Cheng Yaojin then stepped forward and said, "In fact, the Qiang people are much inferior to our Tang Dynasty in every aspect. So I predict that this time our Tang Dynasty only needs to send a group of elite soldiers to defeat the arrogance of the Qiang chieftain, and then they will definitely flee at the sight of the enemy."

It has to be said that he had a sharp vision. He saw the general situation between the Tang Dynasty and the Qiang people at a glance - the Qiang people absolutely did not have the courage and strength to fight to the death with the Tang Dynasty, so their first battle with the Tang Dynasty was destined to be just a test.

“Hahaha~, great minds think alike, I think so too!” Li Shimin laughed, but soon his face turned worried, “It’s easy to defeat the Qiang people, but this battle also exposed the lack of military strength in Longyou. I’m afraid that as the Qiang people become stronger, they will become disloyal to Longyou again. It seems that we should strengthen the connection between Longyou and Guanzhong, but this road…”

When Li Shimin said this, his brows were tightly furrowed, and he looked worried and at a loss.

Building roads is not a problem. The problem is that they become unusable soon after they are built. A huge amount of manpower and material resources are spent on useless work. The Tang Dynasty’s treasury cannot afford such consumption.

In fact, it is not just Longyou. The entire Tang Dynasty territory south of the Yangtze River has road problems. Everyone knows that the south is rich, but transportation has always been a big problem. After all, no matter how much is produced, it is useless if it cannot be transported out.

"Father, I have something to offer you that can solve the road problem!" At this time Li Wenbin suddenly stood up and said, looking at the Tang Dynasty's emperor and his ministers who were troubled by a road problem, Li Wenbin laughed secretly in his heart. This little thing was really a piece of cake for a modern man like him. Taking it out could not only please his cheap father, but also maybe make some money. It was simply killing two birds with one stone.

Zhang Sun Wuji, who was deep in thought, suddenly heard Li Wenbin's words. His eyes narrowed slightly, and he turned around and stared at him and said, "Your Highness Prince Qi, what we are discussing now is a military and national affair. You cannot participate in it without permission!"

What he said was very impolite, but Li Shimin just waved his hand and didn't care at all - although he called Li Wenbin over, he didn't expect him to express any meaningful opinions. At most, he just wanted to feel the atmosphere.

Qin Qiong also quietly pulled Li Wenbin's clothes from behind, signaling him not to speak anymore.

"Father, what I want to talk about is not a major military or national issue. After all, I don't understand these things. But I do know that if we use it to build roads, it will not only be convenient, fast and low-cost, but also be as solid as a rock and not afraid of water or fire. Even if the road is submerged by floods, as long as the water is not too deep, you can still walk on it safely." Li Wenbin bowed again.

"Oh? There is such a thing in this world?" Li Shimin was also interested in Li Wenbin's words.

Fang Xuanling and others below were also looking at Li Wenbin with great interest. They were now full of curiosity about Li Wenbin and didn't understand what surprising move this unexpected King of Qi was going to make next?

"My Lord, this thing is called cement. It is made by burning several very common materials. It is usually like gray flour. When it is used, it is mixed with water, sand, and gravel, and then spread on the road. After a few days, it will become a cement road surface like a slab of stone. The hardness is almost the same as that of real stone. It will not be damaged even if it is soaked in water for several years."

Li Wenbin was very satisfied with everyone's reactions and explained the new invention of cement in detail.

"Okay, Wenbin, please make some samples as soon as possible, and then I will check them with everyone!" Li Shimin slapped the table excitedly.

Although he had not seen the real thing yet, just by listening to Li Wenbin's introduction, he had already sensitively realized the great significance of the emergence of cement.

"Yes, sir!" Li Wenbin immediately stood up and accepted the order.

Making cement is not a difficult task for Li Wenbin. In his previous life, he worked everywhere to make a living and once stayed in a small unlicensed cement factory for a month.

But later on, I couldn't stand the dusty environment in the factory anymore. After a day's work, my hair was covered with cement blocks that couldn't be washed out, so after working for a month, I just got paid and left.

Li Wenbin still remembers most of the materials and firing process of cement, so he is still very confident about making cement in the Tang Dynasty.

Fang Xuanling and others did not comment on the cement. Although they believed that Li Wenbin would not dare to lie about such a big thing, they had not seen the real thing after all, and did not know what the performance of cement was, so they all remained silent.

Next, Li Wenbin asked Li Shimin for some craftsmen to assist him. Li Shimin naturally would not refuse and asked Qin Qiong to take him to the Ministry of Works to find people.

Li Wenbin gladly accepted the order, then led Qin Qiong away and rushed to the Construction Supervisor to take up his post and try to produce the cement as soon as possible.

As soon as he walked out of the hall, Qin Qiong grabbed Li Wenbin and asked anxiously, "Your Highness Prince Qi, are you sure you can make cement? You must not act recklessly on these military and national affairs!"

"Haha, don't worry, it's just a little cement, right?" Li Wenbin said with a smile, "I can't guarantee anything else, but when it comes to making these novel items, I dare say that no one in the entire Tang Dynasty can be better than me."

Chapter 116: Supervisor

When it comes to invention, Li Wenbin is absolutely confident. He comes from later generations and has more than a thousand years of knowledge than the people of the Tang Dynasty. Coupled with the experience and skills he has accumulated from working everywhere in later generations, shouldn't it be easy for him to invent something new?

"This..." Qin Qiong was still a little hesitant. After all, this was not a trivial matter. If Li Wenbin failed to do it and was caught by someone with ulterior motives, it would be very disadvantageous to Li Wenbin.

"Uncle Qin, why don't you just follow me and see what I did wrong and give me some advice?" Li Wenbin saw that Qin Qiong still didn't believe him, so he could only say helplessly.

"That's great. I have an acquaintance in the Ministry of Works who can introduce you to someone." Qin Qiong's eyes suddenly lit up. He thought of someone and said happily.

Li Wenbin was sweating in his heart. He didn't expect that Qin Qiong was so well connected and had acquaintances everywhere.

It was just past noon and the days were long in April, so it was still early. Qin Qiong and Li Wenbin rushed to the Construction Supervisor together.

The General's Office is located within the Imperial City. Exit the Taiji Palace, pass the Chengtian Gate, turn right, and you will find the General's Office right next to the palace wall.

The Supervisory Commissioner for Civil Engineering was in charge of civil engineering construction matters and had two chief architects, third rank, and two junior supervisors, fourth rank lower. The supervisory commissioner also had offices such as the Left Supervisory Commissioner, Right Supervisory Commissioner, Central Supervisory Commissioner, and Selection Officer. Each office had two deputy commanders and one deputy secretary.

When they arrived at the General's Office, they saw that the people there were already waiting for them. They must have received orders from Li Shimin, so Li Wenbin didn't have to explain any more.

"Yuwen Hu, the Chief Architect of the Imperial Household, greets His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi and the Duke of Yi!" The young, black-faced official in the lead saluted with his men.

"Haha~, Brother Yuwen, let's not play these empty formalities between you and me!" Li Wenbin was about to return the greeting, but unexpectedly, Qin Qiong went up and punched Yuwen Hu, smiling intimately.

Li Wenbin suddenly realized that the acquaintance Qin Qiong knew was actually the chief craftsman of the Imperial Household. No wonder Qin Qiong insisted on introducing him to someone else. With the assistance of this chief craftsman Yuwen, he could indeed feel much more relaxed.

"Prince Qi, come here quickly. Let me introduce you. This is my good brother Yuwen Hu. His grandfather is the construction master Yuwen Kai of the previous dynasty. Brother Yuwen has a long family background in construction and has profound attainments in construction. He has learned the true teachings of senior Yuwen." Qin Qiong waved and pulled Li Wenbin over, patting Yuwen Hu on the shoulder and introducing him.

The Yuwen Kai mentioned by Qin Qiong was a great man. He was born into a family of military generals and meritorious officials. He had read a lot of books since he was young, was well versed in the laws and regulations of successive dynasties and a variety of craft skills, and personally designed the construction of many large cities.

For example, the two world-famous cities of Chang'an and Luoyang were both designed by him, and he also participated in the design of the Grand Canal. It can be said that Yuwen Kai was involved in almost all large-scale projects during the reign of Emperor Yang of Sui.

"Haha, I've heard of Master Yuwen's name a long time ago, but unfortunately I've never had the chance to meet him. I didn't expect that we would meet today because of official business. I must get drunk with Master Yuwen some other day." Li Wenbin also hurriedly came up to try to make friends with him. Anyway, Qin Qiong would not expose him.

"Your Highness, you are too polite. I have really admired your highness for a long time. Now, everyone in the whole Chang'an city knows your name." Yuwen Hu was also very polite. Although he had some friendship with Qin Qiong, he still did not dare to be too presumptuous when facing Li Wenbin, whom he met for the first time.

Li Wenbin liked others praising him the most, and he immediately had a good impression of Yuwen Hu. The two of them praised each other for a few more sentences before getting down to business.

"Master Craftsman Yuwen, my father has sent me to make cement this time. Other things are easy to handle, but the selected personnel must be able to keep it confidential. I am not familiar with the Ministry of Works, so I will trouble you on this point." Li Wenbin did not want the method of making cement to be leaked immediately after he figured it out. He was counting on making money from it.

"Don't worry, Your Highness. I will personally select trustworthy personnel!" Yuwen Hu patted his chest to assure, but soon frowned and asked, "But we have never seen cement before. I wonder what kind of personnel and materials Your Highness needs so that I can prepare them?"

Li Wenbin thought for a moment before speaking: "Hmm~, I wonder if the Director of Works has any craftsmen who can make lime or ceramics? Making cement is actually very simple, and anyone who can make lime or ceramics should be able to do it."

“Haha, there are many of these two types of craftsmen in the Imperial Household Department, belonging to the Right School Office and the Zhenguan Office of the Imperial Household Department respectively. I can find them right away.” Yuwen Hu breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this. He was worried that the craftsmen required by Li Wenbin would be too difficult to find, but he didn't expect that the requirements for cement firing would be so low?

"Okay. Also, please ask the master craftsman to prepare some limestone, clay, iron slag and gypsum. These are the materials for making cement." Li Wenbin then gave another order.

"Don't worry, Your Highness. I will prepare it right away. Please wait in the hall!" Yuwen Hu was a technical man and a typical action-oriented person. After hearing Li Wenbin's instructions, he immediately left, leaving Li Wenbin and Qin Qiong in the hall of his office.

"Haha, he is still the same as always, doing everything in a hurry without wasting a moment." Qin Qiong had long understood Yuwen Hu's character, and said to Li Wenbin with a smile.

"Master Craftsman Yuwen is a practical man. Only people like him can be qualified for the position of Master Craftsman of the Imperial Household." Li Wenbin admired Yuwen Hu very much. There were many more types of craftsmen in the Imperial Household than in his mansion. If he wanted to make something new in the future, he would probably have to deal with Yuwen Hu.

The two sat in the hall for a while and felt a little bored. Qin Qiong stood up and walked around the hall a few times, then walked to a corner of the hall very skillfully, opened a hidden small door, waved to Li Wenbin and said, "King Qi, come and see the new things made by the general supervisor. There are many good things in it!"

Li Wenbin curiously followed Qin Qiong into the small door and found that there was a different world inside. It was a room similar to a warehouse, but not very large. Apart from two rows of wooden shelves for placing items, there was basically no other furnishings.

Li Wenbin walked forward and took a closer look at the items on the shelves. He found that some of these things were exquisite or clumsy, and some were still semi-finished products. It was estimated that these were all made by the craftsmen in the workshop.

Suddenly his eyes were attracted by a group of pottery, which was composed of ladies, horses and camels. Moreover, these pottery were all colorful. Whether it was people or animals, they were all vivid and lifelike with bright colors.

The reason why Li Wenbin noticed them was because he had seen a set of pictures of Tang Sancai in his previous life, and this set of pottery was almost exactly the same as in the pictures.

Chapter 117 Tang Sancai

"This must be the legendary Tang Sancai, it really lives up to its reputation!" Li Wenbin muttered to himself with a fascinated look on his face.

Tang Sancai has become a hot antique collector in later generations, and its price is ridiculously high, even selling for tens of millions. If this set of Tang Sancai was auctioned in the future, it would definitely be a sky-high price of billions.

"Your Highness, Prince Qi, why are you staring at that pile of ghost objects? Don't you think it's unlucky? Come and see the good stuff I found!"

Just when Li Wenbin was about to breathe out, Li Wenbin shouted while holding a cylindrical object next to the shelf.

Hearing the word "funerary objects", Li Wenbin immediately felt discouraged. Tang Sancai was indeed funerary objects used for burial, and they were not valuable now. It was a pity that he had been fantasizing about it for a long time.

"This...this couldn't be the legendary fireworks, right?" Li Wenbin looked up and down at the bamboo tube in his hand that was as thick as his arm.

This is what Qin Qiong found just now. The upper and lower bamboo sections of the bamboo tube are preserved, and no one knows what is put inside, making the bamboo tube very heavy. There is a small hole drilled in the middle of the upper bamboo section, and a rope-like thing passes through the small hole. The more Li Wenbin looked at it, the more familiar it looked. This thing is almost the same as the fireworks played during the New Year in later generations.

"That's right, this is the firework developed by the Chief Engineer. I don't know how effective it is, why don't we just set one off and see?" Qin Qiong was so interested that no one could stop him.

After saying that, he didn't care whether Li Wenbin agreed or not, and went to the front hall with a few fireworks.

"Swish~" As Qin Qiong lit the fuse and quickly stepped back, after a while, he saw a burst of green smoke coming out of the bamboo tube firework, followed by a burst of red and green sparks, which lasted for about a minute. After the gunpowder inside burned out, it stopped.

"Well, it's really good. It's much more gorgeous than last year's fireworks, and it lasts longer. It seems that the production supervisor has put in a lot of effort." Qin Qiong nodded with great satisfaction.

Li Wenbin next to him curled his lips. If this kind of fireworks were put in the future, even children would not want to play with them. In fact, in his opinion, these were not real fireworks at all. The fireworks in his impression should be the kind that were fired into the sky by cannons and then exploded to cover half of the sky. Those were real fireworks.

Although the fireworks in front of him were not worth mentioning, they reminded Li Wenbin that gunpowder had appeared as early as the Jin Dynasty, but until the Tang Dynasty it was only used to make fireworks. Even firecrackers had not appeared, let alone their application on the battlefield.

The emergence of gunpowder marked the official entry of hot weapons onto the stage of history, and then it gradually replaced cold weapons, directly changing the form of human warfare. If this good thing was only used to make fireworks, it would be too wasteful!

It seems that there is a chance to improve the gunpowder.

Li Wenbin secretly made up his mind that the current gunpowder could only be used to make fireworks. There was probably something wrong with the formula and it did not reach the optimal ratio of gunpowder, so the power was very small. This was not a difficult problem for Li Wenbin. Thanks to the later education system of the Celestial Empire, Li Wenbin had learned the optimal ratio of gunpowder when he was in middle school.

While Li Wenbin was thinking about gunpowder, Yuwen Hu walked in from outside the hall. He was slightly startled when he saw the fireworks Qin Qiong set off, and then smiled and said, "Duke Yi is in a good mood. This improved fireworks has just been sent to me. There is still room for further improvement. I will definitely send some to your house when it is ready."

"Thank you very much, Brother Yuwen!" Qin Qiong was not polite and returned the greeting generously.

Yuwen Hu smiled slightly, then turned to Li Wenbin and said, "Your Highness, the manpower and materials are ready, please move!"

"Okay, Master Yuwen, lead the way!" Li Wenbin said at the same time.

The three of them walked through several courtyards and came to a courtyard at the westernmost part of the Jiangzuojian, next to the city wall. As soon as he entered here, Li Wenbin smelled a pungent smell of lime. There were several earthen kilns beside the wall of the courtyard. It seemed that this courtyard was used to burn lime in the past.

"Greetings to His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi, Duke Yi!"

As soon as the three entered the yard, they saw a ninth-rank official in light green official uniform kneeling down to greet them with a group of craftsmen.

The rank of officials in the Tang Dynasty could be distinguished just by looking at their official uniforms. Officials of the third rank and above wore purple; those of the fourth rank wore dark red; those of the fifth rank wore light red; those of the sixth rank wore dark green; those of the seventh rank wore light green; those of the eighth rank wore dark blue; and those of the ninth rank wore light blue.

"Everyone, get up!" Qin Qiong waved his hand and asked them to get up very kindly. Everyone hurriedly thanked him.

Yuwen Hu stepped forward and pointed at the ninth-rank official who was in his forties or fifties and introduced him, "This is the Right School Secretary Bai Qing. He has always been in charge of refining lime. Secretary Bai has worked in the General Works Bureau for many years and is a loyal and reliable person. Therefore, this time, the cement refining work will mainly be led by him to assist His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi. In addition to the original lime craftsmen, there are also porcelain craftsmen transferred from other offices. They are all skilled, honest and reliable people."

"Your subordinate Bai Qing, pays homage to His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi!" Bai Qing was very tactful. After hearing Yuwen Hu introduce himself to Li Wenbin, he immediately stepped forward and saluted again.

He has been a ninth-rank official for several years and has never been promoted.

This time it was Yuwen Hu who promoted him and gave him this great opportunity. If he could help Li Wenbin to succeed in the cement project, he would definitely have a share of the credit, and his rank might even be raised. So he made up his mind to cling to the King of Qi.

Li Wenbin took a look at Bai Qing and found that although this man had a dark complexion and big hands and feet, if he took off his official uniform, he was actually no different from the craftsmen behind him. The only difference was that he had a pair of shrewd little eyes on his wrinkled face, which blinked flexibly from time to time, and it was obvious that he was a clever person.

"Well, I'll have to trouble Secretary Bai from now on!" Li Wenbin was very satisfied with this man. Looking at his appearance, he could guess that he was a craftsman and was also very smart. This kind of person is not only down-to-earth when doing things, but also knows how to adapt. He is a talented person that can be cultivated.

Seeing Li Wenbin being so friendly to him, Bai Qing was very terrified and kept saying he dared not. He was a minor official of the ninth rank, with a low family background, and his status in the General Works Bureau was only slightly higher than that of an ordinary craftsman. How could he have received such courtesy?

"Minister Bai, now you direct the craftsmen to grind the limestone, clay, slag and gypsum into powder, then mix the limestone and clay in a ratio of 5:1, and add a small amount of slag powder!" Li Wenbin took a look at the materials prepared by Yuwen Hu and found that they were all very good, so he gave instructions to Bai Qing who was following behind him.

"Yes, I'll do it right away!" Bai Qing took action immediately after hearing his order, directing the craftsmen to run around, apparently wanting to perform well in front of Li Wenbin.

Chapter 118: Burning Completed

The crushing of materials is an essential process in cement firing, and the raised dust is extremely harmful to the human body.

Li Wenbin couldn't leave, and the three of them started coughing due to choking. Bai Qing was very tactful and handed them three wet towels and asked them to cover their mouths and noses, which made Li Wenbin and Qin Qiong like Bai Qing very much.

In a short while, all the materials were ground into powder. Then, under Bai Qing's command, limestone, slag and clay were mixed according to the proportions specified by Li Wenbin. The gypsum powder was put aside for later use. Then the mixed materials were put into the lime kiln for calcination.

Li Wenbin didn't need to direct this process at all. Those craftsmen were familiar with playing with fire and were much more skilled at calcining than Li Wenbin.

In addition, the calcination time is quite long, and Li Wenbin and Qin Qiong cannot wait here, so Bai Qing will be responsible for the management and supervision of the following work - this is the advantage of being an official, you don't have to do most things yourself, your subordinates will naturally do it.

Before leaving, Li Wenbin gave Bai Qing some instructions, and Bai Qing wrote them down one by one. This serious attitude made Li Wenbin very satisfied.

The three of them left the cement burning yard and came to the hall. Li Wenbin looked at the sky and said, "Master Yuwen, it's still early now. Thanks to your help today, why don't we find a place to have a drink?"

Qin Qiong certainly didn't object when he heard about drinking, and he tried his best to persuade Yuwen Hu to go, but Yuwen Hu hesitated and said with difficulty: "Normally, if His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi invites me, I shouldn't refuse. But Mr. Zhou, who is in charge of the General Works Bureau with me, is away for a few days. The entire General Works Bureau depends on me alone to manage it, and I really can't leave."

Yuwen Hu paused for a moment, then smiled and pointed at Li Wenbin and Qin Qiong and said, "Besides, today is really not a good time to invite people to dinner. If nothing else, look at yourselves. How can you look like a prince or a duke?"

After Yuwen Hu mentioned this, Li Wenbin and Qin Qiong realized that their clothes were covered with dust, and even their hair was gray. If they were not familiar with them, they would not believe that they were princes and dukes of noble status.

"Hahaha~, if it weren't for Master Yuwen's reminder, I wouldn't have realized that I was so embarrassed. If I looked like this even if I entered a restaurant, I would be chased out as a beggar!" Qin Qiong looked at himself and then at Li Wenbin, and then the two of them laughed together.

"In that case, then let's not disturb Master Yuwen. When the cement is ready tomorrow, I must drink with Master Yuwen until we are drunk!" Li Wenbin also said with a smile.

"Haha, I am very happy to be invited by His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi. I have heard that the wine and food in the Prince of Qi's mansion are unparalleled, but I have never had the chance to taste them. I must drink to my heart's content when the time comes." Yuwen Hu said with a smile. Although he is a third-rank official in purple clothes, his family is not very powerful, and the General Works Department he presides over is not an important department, so he was not qualified to attend the last Five Kings Banquet.

"Okay, I will prepare wine and food and wait for Master Yuwen in the mansion." After saying this, Li Wenbin bowed and left with Qin Qiong.

……