Chapter 136 Accident
Old Zhu put his hands on his hips, looked back and forth at the cement road in front of him, stomping his feet on the ground from time to time, with a look of satisfaction on his face.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Chong couldn't help but secretly criticize his ignorance. In later generations, a hospital with independent wards that could accommodate thousands of people was built in ten days, and a Yangtze River Bridge was built in nine months. That was truly amazing. What was his dozens of miles compared to that!
Of course, Zhu Chong would never tell those things to Old Zhu, and it just so happened that Old Zhu pushed Tang He and Li Wenzhong out at this time.
Zhu Chong was of course familiar with these two people. He and Li Wenzhong were of the same generation, so Zhu Chong was their elder brother.
As for Tang He, he was once one of Zhu Chong's masters, but because of Zhu Chong's status as a prince, the two of them also greeted Zhu Chong when they met him.
"Your Highness, Prince Qin, you are truly amazing. You built such a beautiful road in just a few days. It's truly unbelievable!"
"Brother, I heard you invented something called cement. Is what we're standing on the same cement?"
"Yes, yes, Your Highness, could you tell us what cement is? Can we in the Ming Dynasty mass-produce it now? Is it expensive?"
Looking at Tang He and Li Wenzhong chattering around Zhu Chong, Old Zhu just watched with a slight smile.
It had been a long time since he had seen these children together, talking about something so excitedly. The last time he saw this was during the war.
However, in comparison, Zhu Yuanzhang would rather have more situations like the one in front of him, and it would be best if situations like the previous war never happened again.
Seeing Tang He and Li Wenzhong talking to Zhu Chong excitedly, Zhu was thinking about staying in Changning County today and taking a look around. Suddenly, Zhu's face became gloomy.
Zhu Chong was the first to sense that something was wrong with Old Zhu's expression. He looked back following Old Zhu's gloomy gaze and saw a large group of cars coming towards the end of the cement road. From afar, he could see the flags hanging on the cars and horses, which were obviously the names of high-ranking officials in the court.
What were these people doing here? They couldn't possibly be here to congratulate me on finding a way through, could they?
But why is Zhu not happy when these people come? Is there something happening in the court that he is not aware of?
"Long live His Majesty, long live His Majesty, long live His Majesty!"
"Your Majesty, please forgive us for being late in accompanying you!"
All the ministers came to Zhu Yuanzhang and knelt on the ground in an instant. Zhu Chong and others had no choice but to kneel down as well.
Old Zhu's eyes were filled with an inexplicable dark light. He glanced at the ministers in front of him and said in a calm tone, "Get up."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" The ministers stood up, but before Zhu Chong could react, Zhu Yuanzhang had already returned to the carriage and left.
Seeing this scene, Zhu Chong was a little confused and subconsciously looked at Tang He and Li Wenzhong who were left behind by Old Zhu.
Li Wenzhong was shocked at Zhu Chong, then shook his head slightly, signaling Zhu Chong not to ask any more questions. Tang He had a half-smile on his face, looked deeply at the ministers around him, and then left alone with his hands behind his back.
The ministers looked at each other, not expecting that nothing they said would lead to such a commotion. They were all at a loss.
But it was impossible to stay here, so the ministers who had just flocked in, also flocked out, and during the whole process, no one greeted Zhu Chong.
Zhu Chong didn't care about it, but after the ministers left, he pulled Li Wenzhong over and asked, "What's going on? I just saw the six ministers are here. What happened in the court?"
"Second brother, I haven't paid attention to the affairs of the court recently, and you'd better not pay attention to them either. I'm leaving first." After Li Wenzhong said this with a double meaning, he bowed to Zhu Chong and left quickly, leaving Zhu Chong alone on the cement road in a daze.
Seeing that Li Wenzhong refused to tell him the truth, Zhu Chong knew that something serious might have happened in the court.
However, even if something happens, it has nothing to do with Zhu Chong now. If the sky falls, there will be someone taller to hold it up. If it really comes to Zhu Chong's turn to take action, the Ming Dynasty will probably be in danger.
Turning back up the mountain, they arrived at the mining area. Old Liu came up to them with an excited look on his face. Without waiting for the other party to speak, Zhu Chong asked first.
"Old Liu, now that the road is built for you and I've found the miners for you, you have to arrange everything for me. The hundreds of people in our Baochao Tizhusi are going to have enough food to eat, and that depends on you!"
After hearing Zhu Chong's joke, Old Liu was obviously still a little uncomfortable, but this time he did not remain silent.
"Sir, you are right. We, the craftsmen, are all grateful for your kindness. But you also see that the place where we are mining coal is still a long way from the cement road. What do you think..."
As soon as Zhu Chong heard Old Liu's request, he knew what Old Liu was up to, but there was no way Zhu Chong could agree to it.
First of all, the distance that Old Liu mentioned actually all belongs to the mining area. He is not a lunatic and it is impossible for him to do whatever his subordinates say when paving a cement road on the coal mine.
Secondly, it's only one or two miles away. If you want to be lazy now, you don't know how you will be lazy in the future. Besides, Zhu Chong no longer plans to use the people from the Baochao Tizhusi to open the mine. He plans to replace them all with laborers from Changning County and nearby counties.
Anyway, mining does not require any skills, and it is an open-pit mine. As long as the safety measures are proper, no accidents are likely to occur. It is a waste to keep the people from the Baochao Tizhusi here.
Thirdly, Old Liu's words reminded Zhu Chong that the way coal was transported down the mountain from the mining area did need to be improved. They could consider saving manpower and making something that would facilitate transportation.
He thought of Zhuge Liang's wooden ox and horse carriage. With that thing, everyone in the mining area could easily carry hundreds of kilograms of coal down the mountain. In that case, as long as there were enough people, the amount of coal transported every day would be a considerable number.
However, Zhu Chong was thinking more about other things now, which was to quickly get Old Liu's men to withdraw and do another thing for him.
Because he discovered not only coal but also iron ore near the coal mine.
Now that he has coal, Zhu Chong plans to develop steelmaking as the Ming Dynasty's current steel production is too low.
Moreover, the steelmaking method was completely primitive manual hammering, which made Zhu Chong very dissatisfied.
The importance of steel to a country is self-evident. Without a large amount of steel to support it, the country's army and industry will be 100% backward.
Falling behind means being beaten, and Zhu Chong would not sit and wait to be beaten, so he immediately explained to Old Liu what he was going to do next, and finally said that the migrant workers from Changning County would soon go up the mountain to replace them in mining.
After hearing what Zhu Chong said, Old Liu immediately stopped worrying about the road construction. Since he didn't need people from the Baochao Tizhusi to come to mine, whether others worked hard or not was none of his business.
However, not long after Zhu Chong brought his men back to the Baochao Tizhusi, Zhang Quan brought him some bad news.
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