Chapter 535: The Most Advanced City of the Han Tribe (Please vote and subscribe)
Just as Niu Wei was calling his men to a meeting, the Jinwu Guards were not idle either. With the help of the government's many spies, Jin Yi also called his men who had infiltrated various workshops after confirming that all the people of the Xin Tribe had returned.
The situations of the twenty-eight people were different. The kitchen on the construction site had the most people contacted, six people, while the others were two or three people. There was no one at the wine shop. In total, only twelve people could be confirmed to have been taken away.
Twelve of the 28 people lurked in, which was not a low number. Too many people would be easily noticed by the other party. However, the remaining dozen people would not be idle either. Luo Chong could give them a new identity and let them go with the delegation, or let them dress up as vendors and be responsible for the contact between the Han Tribe and the delegation in the future.
Of course, it would be difficult for such a small number of people to play a big role. The lurking plan would continue. The next step was to start from the school, to recruit a group of students from the Xin Tribe, and then to infiltrate a group of students from the Han Tribe. In this way, the overall situation would basically be reliable.
After a tense meeting, everyone agreed to support and help each other in the Xin Tribe, and they would definitely complete the task assigned by the leader.
In fact, they had no task when they first went there. Being able to sneak in smoothly, not be discovered, and protect their own safety was already a victory. After that, they worked hard to gain status in the Xin Tribe and waited for the moment when the leader issued an order for them to execute.
There was no celebration, no dinner, their mission had just begun, and after saying goodbye to each other, everyone went back quietly.
On the second day, Luo Chong had already begun to arrange for the convoy to load the goods. The goods transported were all white paper produced by the papermaking workshop in the past two months, ready to be pulled back to Hanyang City to start mass printing of books.
These books are all fixed editions. As long as the Han Tribe’s regime is stable and Luo Chong has not fallen, there will be basically no changes. The four books of "Hanli", "Elementary and Intermediate Arithmetic" and "Nature" can be used as basic textbooks.
In addition, there are bamboo brushes produced in Liuyang County. There are bamboos on the lake island here, and there are many antelopes and wolfhounds raised in Liuyang County, so the wool materials are also sufficient.
The remaining ink sticks and inkstones are all produced in Hanyang County. There are many pine trees on the mountains there, and there are various ready-made kiln factories, so it is easy to burn inkstones.
Moreover, during this period, when Luo Chong was free, he also developed a portable brush. It is the size of a fountain pen, with a wolf hair small regular script brush head with a diameter of 3 mm in front, and a bamboo tube at the back to hold ink. It is also equipped with a bamboo pen cap with the same diameter as the pen body to protect the pen head.
This brush is actually not difficult to make. The key point is that you cannot use ordinary water-mixed ink, because if it is left unused for a period of time, the ink inside will precipitate and separate, and basically you can't write words, and it is not easy to disassemble and clean it again.
So Luo Chong used an oil-based ink that the printing workshop had prepared before. It was the best one among the pens used in the experiment. The ink hardly precipitated, and the pen tip had strong absorption power, and it was not easy to overflow. It also evaporated quickly. In short, it was a quick-drying type. After writing dozens of words, the words behind were basically dry, and there was no need to dry it for half a day like water-based ink.
However, such a good ink is of course more expensive. After all, one is made with water and the other is made with oil, and the cost is there.
This portable small regular script brush was designated by Luo Chong as a special shorthand pen for official business. It was very convenient to go out and do things. There was no need to bring ink sticks and inkstones. You could take it out and use it directly wherever you went.
In addition to the officials of Liuyang County, the first batch of people equipped with this pen were the two brothers Youfu and Youye. They were all busy all year round, especially Youfu. Luo Chong also asked him to write a navigation log every day. Now in the Han tribe, in addition to Luo Chong, Youfu is almost the one who writes the most.
After both Han and Xin arranged their people, Luo Chong set off to return to Hanyang County on the third day of the negotiation. This time, in addition to Luo Chong and the cargo caravan, Niu Wei also took the 50 people who were about to leave to Hanyang City.
It was not that they had something to do, but they needed to go there to meet up with the Han tribe delegation. Because Luo Chong had not yet selected all the candidates for the delegation, it was impossible for them to set off immediately.
Luo Chong still rode his Huishan, and Rourou followed beside him. There were long caravans in front and behind, loaded with a large amount of white paper and brushes, as well as a lot of animal skins and wool, all for replenishing the newly built counties.
Niu Wei took his fifty people and rode beside them. Looking at the long caravan of the Han tribe, he was indescribably envious. If the Xin tribe also had such a strong transportation capacity, what kind of scene would it be? The Xin tribe only had a shoulder pole until now, and the strongest official transportation force was a packhorse, which was not a little bit worse than the Han tribe.
The group walked west along the road. When they just left Liuyang County, they could see many people digging artificial rivers not far from the city, and some special villages on both sides of the river. They
were called villages, but they were actually villages, which were similar to the current residential areas. All the houses were put together, and with some walls, they formed a large courtyard. There was only one entrance to the whole village. There was a head of the village head every morning and night, and they were not allowed to go out casually. After all, this was still an undeveloped wilderness, and no one could tell whether wild boars or terror birds would suddenly come out and attack humans.
Looking at these villages under construction, the artificial rivers that had been dug, and the iron hoes and shovels wielded by the tribesmen of the Han tribe, Niu Wei felt mixed emotions in his heart. These were all the conveniences brought by the tools.
Moreover, Niu Wei had lived in the Han tribe for the past two months, and he was no longer the ignorant Wu Amon when he first came. He also understood what these people were digging rivers for.
In addition to using it to get soil to burn bricks and build houses, it can also be used to draw water from the river to irrigate farmland, so that the land that was originally uncultivated can be used to produce food. In terms of land transformation and maximization of utilization, the Xin tribe is far inferior to the Han tribe.
If the Xin tribe can develop the entire Zhudao land, then the long island that stretches for thousands of miles cannot have a population of less than 100,000.
A group of people are on horseback, so the speed is naturally not slow. After walking forward for a whole morning, Niu Wei saw a rammed earth city with a large flag of "Han" hanging high not far ahead.
This is also a newly built county town this year, which is Shitong County at the junction of four counties. Although it was built in a short time, there are many people here. The more than 3,000 people who were initially assigned here, plus the hundreds of slaves transferred here, are full of people and vehicles inside and outside, and there are also many livestock. It looks very lively.
The group had lunch in Shitong County at noon. The team unloaded some supplies here, fed the cattle and horses with hay and water, and then headed west again.
The journey in the afternoon was rather desolate. Occasionally one could see a few convoys transporting goods on the road, all of whom were people from the Han tribe. Other people were rarely seen.
At about four o'clock in the afternoon, Niu Wei finally found the tribesmen of the Han tribe in the woods beside the road. They were wearing cloth clothes and had their hair tied up. They were carrying firewood in groups of more than ten people and walking towards Ruyang County. These people came from Ruyang County to cut wood and firewood. They often moved around in this area. If they met them, they were basically not far from the Ruyang River.
Sure enough, after walking for about an hour, Niu Wei saw a sparkling river cutting off the horizon under the setting sun in the distance. On the other side of the river, the rice there swayed in the wind, and surrounded by farmland, a city that was obviously built of artificial blue bricks stood there.
The city was not big, far less than the huge scale of Liuyang County, and even worse than a market in Liuyang County. Even the Sitong County where they stopped for lunch at noon looked bigger than here.
But in terms of the degree of consideration of the building, this place ranks second, and other cities dare not claim to be the first. Just look at the large black bricks on the surface of the city wall, it is clear that it is built with large pieces of solid rocks.
Not far from the foot of the towering city wall, you can see a circle of sparkling water. The river channel has sharp corners at the bend. It is obvious that it was dug by humans. It is natural to say that it is used to irrigate farmland, but Niu Wei also saw another purpose of this artificial river, which is defense.
With such a river passing around the city, it is very difficult for people or horses to cross the river to attack the city.
Before Niu Wei thought about it, the team continued to move forward. When he thought he had to ride a horse to wade through the river, the team in front of him did not stop at all and drove directly across the river.
This situation scared him, so he rode his horse away from the team and walked to the side, and then he saw what was going on in front.
Just ahead of us, on the river, a "road" made of logs and planks was stretched across the river. It was not a moving device, nor was it floating on the water like a boat. Instead, it had several thick pillars firmly planted in the water, like a huge beast standing firmly in the water.
"What is this?" Niu Wei asked the translator beside him.
"This is called a bridge, which is specially used to cross the river. Any road built to cross the river can be called a bridge." The clerk in charge of the translation answered.
Niu Wei nodded in understanding, thinking, "I've learned something new this time." Although he had seen sailboats larger than this "bridge" in Liuyang County, they were not the same thing after all, so Niu Wei was also surprised to see the bridge for the first time.
The vehicles drove past one by one. Luo Chong walked over directly, while Huishan and Rourou had to wade through the water, otherwise their small bodies might crush the bridge.
Finally, it was Niuwei's turn. They all came down and led the horses across the bridge. It was their first time to walk on this thing, so they wanted to walk on the ground.
The wooden bridge was very stable, and the bridge planks and beams were all made of good materials. The sound of horses' hooves stepping on the bridge made a thumping sound, and the sound of flowing water kept coming from under the
bridge. This was really a wonderful feeling that he had never experienced before. Moreover, standing on the wooden bridge at this time, Niuwei did not forget to observe the surroundings. After coming here, he noticed that the shipping in Hanyang City was also very developed. Countless small boats glided downstream, and small boats kept coming up downstream.
Although these boats had no sails and were more than half the size of sailboats, they were better in number and simple operation. One or two people could operate a boat, so in terms of shipping, this place seemed to be no worse than Liuyang County.
The strength of a civilization can be roughly seen from its transportation capacity. In this regard, the Han tribe was indeed more than ten streets ahead of all other civilizations.
After crossing the bridge, there is a road that cuts through the farmland and leads straight to the city gate. The road is pitch black, and you can't see the soil on the ground at all. It is obviously paved with something, but Niu Wei rarely recognizes it because the Xin tribe also has this thing, which is the slag discarded after smelting metals.
"It turns out that slag can be used to pave the road, but looking at the amount of slag on this road, how much ore has the Han tribe refined? This is too scary."
Niu Wei secretly smacked his lips, and in his heart he exclaimed that the Han tribe's metallurgy is abnormal, another symbol that proves the strength of the Han tribe, how much metal is produced annually, and how much metal is owned by the tribe. However, in this regard, the Xin tribe is even less qualified to compare. The Han tribe has already started to use metal as currency, so is the metal production a joke? !
Finally, we arrived in front of the city gate. The towering city wall of nearly eight meters high looks both solid and majestic. The tribesmen living inside must have a sense of security.
After crossing a peculiar movable suspension bridge again, everyone officially entered the city. The scene inside suddenly came into view, which made Niuwei and his group amazed.
After seeing Liuyang County, they thought it was the best and largest human settlement in the world. However, when they arrived in Hanyang City, the outer wall alone was better than Liuyang County, and the inside of the wall was even higher than Liuyang County.
It is indeed not as big as the market in Liuyang County, but it gives people a sense of exquisiteness that is small but complete.
It's like you just saw a 240-square-meter large apartment, and then went to see a 90-square-meter finely decorated small apartment with first-class design, decoration, and home appliances. What kind of feeling is that? At this time, it is almost the same as Niuwei's feeling.
What impression did Hanyang City and Liuyang County give Niu Wei? If we really want to compare them, Liuyang County is big, but very "earthy". The city walls are made of rammed earth, the streets are made of rammed earth, and even some residential houses have rammed earth adobe houses.
But when he first entered Hanyang City, his first impression of it was "clean and tidy".
The city walls are built of blue bricks, the streets are paved with blue bricks, and the houses are built of blue bricks. Many of the houses are painted white on the outside. The streets are not spotless, but there is no obvious dirt. There are rows of tung trees and willow trees on both sides of the road. There are also some green belts under the trees, but they are planted with peppers or lacquer grass. These two crops are also very beautiful when they bloom.
(End of this chapter)
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