"Ah Yuan, I trust your gut feeling!"
Helian Jue looked at Xie Yuan with deep affection and said with complete trust, "If you say Yuwen Hao has a problem, then he does!"
His Ah Yuan is the smartest; he won't be easily fooled like Little Fatty.
Sigh, this little guy was quite smart when he was young, how could he have believed Yuwen Hao?
When he gets back, he will definitely take the little fat boy with him and teach him properly.
To prevent him from being fooled by people with ulterior motives again!
"Your Majesty, I have a feeling that this project started strong but ended weakly!"
Xie Yuan wasn't ungrateful; rather, Helian Jue had put on this grand show, keeping the entire capital in the dark. Logically, they should have been able to catch even more fish.
In the end, there was only Chen Fuli and the Cui family!
Xie Yuan always felt unsatisfied.
"really!"
Helian Jue deeply agreed with Xie Yuan's words.
This time, he stayed in bed pretending to be a living dead for almost a month.
I was completely exhausted and weak.
He's not in a hurry to return to Beijing, not just for fishing, but also because his body really needs rest.
Otherwise, if he continues to squander his talents, he might die young.
Although Helian Jue was not afraid of death and was satisfied with Xie Yuan's willingness to live and die together, who would want to die if they could live well?
Needless to say, they were the most distinguished people in the world, possessing wealth across the four seas and ruling over a vast empire.
Helian Jue did not pursue immortality like some emperors; he only wanted to grow old with his beloved and die peacefully in his old age, which was already very "restrained"!
Deliberately courting death?
What kind of stupid person would do that?
"However, being able to gain anything is already an unexpected bonus."
"As for the others, let's observe them carefully and plan them out slowly."
Helian Jue was not an impatient person; he had already understood A Yuan's intentions.
Next, the couple will live a good life and rule the world.
Those petty scoundrels hiding in the shadows probably won't be able to cause any big trouble.
If anyone dares to cause trouble again, Helian Jue has the confidence and courage to strike back swiftly!
"Yes, Your Majesty is right. These things cannot be rushed!"
Xie Yuan looked on in agreement and continued to feed Helian Jue his food and medicine.
The army stayed in Zhongzhou for another half month, and Helian Jue was already able to walk on his own, which put Xie Yuan at ease.
Thus, the royal army set off, officially returning to the capital!
On the road, Xie Yuan and Helian Jue sat facing each other in the huge carriage.
They drank tea and played chess.
Xie Yuan has already replicated the tire. Although it is the most original version, it can still provide some shock absorption when wrapped around the wooden wheels.
However, the road conditions are too poor.
Especially a few days ago, after it had just rained, even the wide official road had two deep ruts.
The wheels followed the tire tracks, making a very bumpy ride.
The chessboard was fixed to the table and wouldn't shake with any bumps, but the Go stones, made of white and black jade, trembled and bounced slightly.
"This official road is still not smooth enough."
In ancient times, the thing that was most difficult to adapt to was travel.
This is so painful!
Even emperors, as noble as they were, could not enjoy the convenient means of transportation that are common in later generations, such as cars and airplanes.
The carriage swayed, the wooden wheels swayed, and it was fine to sit for a day or two, but if you sat for ten days or half a month, even a perfectly healthy person could have their bones shaken to pieces.
"Unfortunately, the cement project failed!"
Xie Yuan gently touched the Go stones, sighing inwardly.
Back in Yuezhou, when Xie Yuan ordered people to replicate the soil fertilizer, lime was used.
At that time, she thought about whether she could take the opportunity to develop cement.
After all, cement has many uses; besides road construction, it can be used to build bridges, dams, and houses.
For example, if Xie Yuan's cross-sea bridge had cement, she wouldn't have had to go through the trouble of having people cultivate oysters.
Using oysters to build a bridge was indeed feasible, and Xie Yuan truly created another "miracle."
However, it is ultimately not as strong or as easy to use as cement or concrete.
It's a pity that in ancient times, glass could be made, soap could be made, and even gunpowder could be successfully replicated.
Cement, however, is simply impossible to achieve.
"High temperature! For successful calcination, a sufficiently high temperature is required."
"With the current production conditions, a temperature of 1,800 degrees Celsius is simply unattainable!"
Xie Yuan had the craftsmen try many times, but all attempts ended in failure.
Forget about cement for now.
Without cement, the only way to build roads is to use primitive methods, either compacting the loess or paving the road with stone slabs.
The former is labor-intensive and easily damaged;
The latter method is both labor-intensive and requires sufficient stone materials. Blasting mountains to quarry stone is too dangerous and too wasteful of manpower and resources!
Of course, as a compromise, we can build a gravel road.
However, it still has obvious shortcomings.
"Or, we could use coal ash to pave the road!"
"But nowadays, people are more used to burning charcoal, and coal has not yet been widely developed and promoted."
"How about we start with coal? By the way, winters in the north are quite cold, so we could promote heating devices like coal stoves and boilers!"
Having temporarily eliminated the "threat" of the madman Helian Jue, Xie Yuan returned to "workaholic" mode.
She was exiled to Lingnan as soon as she arrived.
So, for the past few years, she has been living in the South where it is possible to wear only a single layer of clothing in winter.
Xie Yuan had discussed issues such as winter heating with Helian Jue once.
However, since he didn't need it himself, he didn't bother to research it or promote it vigorously.
Now that they have returned to Pingcheng and become the rulers of the land, they should consider the well-being of the common people.
Xie Yuan's thoughts kept wandering, and before he knew it, he had reached into the interlayer and pulled out paper and ink sticks.
When Helian Jue saw Xie Yuan "lost in thought," he didn't make a fuss; instead, he looked at him with admiration, and his eyes even held a hint of anticipation.
What brilliant idea has Ah Yuan come up with this time?
As expected of his Ah Yuan, he's so capable.
Huh?
By the way, when Dugu Zhi was being interrogated by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, she actually revealed quite a few secrets.
For example, she mentioned many of Empress Xie's "benevolent policies"—
Iron stoves and coal not only solved the problem of heating for people in northern China during winter, but also gave rise to a new industry – coal!
In addition to gold, silver, copper, and iron mines, the imperial court also controlled coal mines.
The Ministry of Revenue even established a Coal Bureau, whose annual revenue accounted for one-fifth of the national treasury's total revenue.
If you count the days, it's already mid-autumn, and winter is just around the corner.
This winter should be considered A Yuan's first winter in Pingcheng.
If nothing unexpected happens, she will propose this benevolent policy.
Helian Jue craned his neck and peered out, trying to see what Xie Yuan had drawn.
Sure enough, I saw a breakdown diagram of a furnace...
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