Divine Item, Clay! (, tickets.)
Li Xian didn't know that Zhang Liang came to seek revenge on him. He didn't even enter the door before he was scared away by Li Chengqian and his brothers.
But even if he knew, Li Xian did not care at all.
Zhang Liang was just a small character who didn't know his limits. He could easily play with him to death.
Li Xian had more important things to do now.
Road construction!
"Young Master Li, the Inner Pass Road is more than four hundred miles long. The required stone materials, the wages of the craftsmen, and the time-consuming construction period are all not small figures. I wonder if you have enough money.”
Liu Ming asked.
This was also something that the six directors of the Ministry of Works were curious about.
These few days, he learned from Li Xian's servants that the reason why Li Xian was able to take out 2.3 million catties of grain for disaster relief was mainly because of the shockingly high yield of corn per mu.
Looking at Li Xian's house again, it was actually not some big family.
The cost of repairing the road…
It didn't seem like something Li Xian could bear.
"Hmm…"
Li Xian silently calculated for a moment before replying with a smile.
"Five hundred strings."
How much?
Liu Ming, Xie Yun, and the other six directors of the Ministry of Works were dumbfounded.
"Young Master Li, are you joking?”
"Five hundred strings of money to build a road of more than four hundred li, that's simply a fantasy!”
"This bit of money isn't even enough to repair a three-mile road.”
Liu Ming and the others were furious. If it weren't for the fact that they had a small braid in Li Xian's hands, they would have scolded him directly.
The six of them discussed for half a day, painstakingly calculating, surveying, planning, and assigning craftsmen. They were extremely busy.
In the end…
It was all for nothing.
This feeling was really stifling.
"Let me remind you that the 500 strings of money are not all used to build roads. I used 200 strings of money to build cement machines.”
Wasn't it all used on repairing the road?
Liu Ming and the others looked at Li Xian speechlessly, no longer able to complain.
"Hehe, don't be anxious."
Li Xian drank a mouthful of tea and said calmly.
"It's not necessary to use stones to build roads.”
"Collecting is cumbersome, labor consuming, and dangerous. It really doesn't meet the cost.”
"Therefore, since ancient times, whenever there was a major project, it would be regarded as a waste of manpower and wealth, and a loss of national strength.”
"Qin Shihuang was a wise ruler, but because of the Great Wall, he was also labeled as a tyrant. How unjust.”
Liu Ming and the others did not speak, but they could not help but nod in agreement with Li Xian's words.
In any era, there would always be people who understood.
Whether the Great Wall was useful or not was self-evident.
Without this line of defense, it would be much easier for the foreign races to invade the Han.
Even now, the Great Tang was still basking in Qin Shi Huang's glory.
It was really inappropriate to use this to call him a tyrant.
"But…"
Liu Ming asked with a bitter smile.
"How are we going to build the road without using stones?”
"Even if other places can be paved with yellow soil and planned to be flat, it's close to Chang 'an. In order to show the bearing of the capital, we must use good stones!”
The other managers nodded in agreement.
"There's no need to separate them. I plan to use the best materials to repair the inner roads of this 400-mile pass.”
Li Xian said with a smile.
"As for the section near Chang 'an, I plan to add some decorative patterns on the road to ensure that it is beautiful and elegant. It is definitely much better than stone.”
Liu Ming and the others rolled their eyes in disbelief.
"Stop fooling around, Young Master Li. You're joking with us!”
"That's right. Stone is already so expensive, but materials that are better than stone are definitely more expensive. With your five hundred strings of money, no, three hundred strings of money, let's go to bed early!”
"Young Master Li, please tell His Majesty to let us go back to the Ministry of Works. Everyone is quite busy."
Li Xian laughed loudly.
"Haha, you guys don't have confidence in me.”
Pa da.
The six-point contract was thrown in front of Liu Ming and the others.
"Sign this confidentiality agreement and I'll bring you guys to broaden your horizons!”
……
In the backyard of the Li family, a huge cement machine was running. It did not rely on electricity, but the manpower of eight people.
A steady stream of cement came into being.
"This is cement."
Li Xian smiled and pointed at the cement underground.
"This is it!"
"This is all powder. It can barely be used as a cushion. How can your stone be so strong?”
"Young Master Li, are you trying to fool us?”
Liu Ming and the others complained one after another, their faces full of disbelief.
"Of course not now."
Li Xian said with a smile.
"This cement, when mixed with water and sand, will change into any shape at will. When it dries, it will be extremely hard, even harder than rock.”
Liu Ming and the others looked at Li Xian suspiciously.
It felt…
It was so mystical.
"You still don't believe me?"
Li Xian pointed at a few stone slabs at the side and said with a smile.
"These are the stone slabs that were made from cement in the past few days.”
Liu Ming and the others instantly gathered over and began to check the items one by one.
"It's 30% thick, but it's actually so heavy. It's not hollow.”
"The quality is passable. It's very sturdy and can be used to build roads.”
"It's exquisite and beautiful. It's indeed better than stone.”
After all, Liu Ming and the others were professionals. They could tell the quality of the cement slabs at a glance.
Each and every one of them was full of praises and was extremely excited.
"Young Master Li, is this really made of cement?”
Liu Ming asked suspiciously.
"Could it be that you used stone to forge it to fool us?”
After saying this, the other managers also came back to their senses and looked at Li Xian vigilantly.
Using defective stones as high-grade stones was not new to the Ministry of Works. Many people had done this before.
Li Xian was a merchant and valued profits the most.
The benefits of doing so were huge. Perhaps he would really do so!
"Clang."
Li Xian threw a hammer over and said with a smile.
"If you don't believe me, break it open and see for yourself.”
"Whether the material is the same or not, I believe that with your ability, you will definitely be able to tell.”
Liu Ming hesitated for a moment, but he still picked up the hammer and started smashing the stone slab. Immediately, stone chips flew everywhere, and a lot of stone foam fell.
"It's really the same."
Liu Ming looked at the cement in front of him in shock, his eyes so wide that they almost fell to the ground.
"With this, not to mention building roads, we can even repair cities and build houses. It's sturdy and durable, and its quality is excellent.”
"This is a divine item!"
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]