21 Chapter 21
◎To get rich, build roads first!◎
It was late at night. Although it was summer, the sound of the wind could still be heard on the grassland. Li Hengqing looked up and saw a sky full of stars and the moon at its zenith. He knew it was getting late, so he squeezed his legs against the horse's belly and increased his speed.
Her frequent travels these days had improved her riding skills considerably, and she was almost indistinguishable from the natives of the grasslands. Her eyesight was excellent, and the moonlight tonight was bright. The tribe's tents came into view from afar. Aside from the patrolling guards, only the lamp in the Golden Tent remained alight.
Li Hengqing's heart moved slightly, and he signaled his guards to leave on their own, and he turned over and tried to dismount.
But someone took the reins for her first. Li Hengqing was startled: "Didn't I tell you to go and rest first?"
What he heard was Helian Xiao's slightly hoarse voice: "It's me, Princess."
"...It's so late." Li Hengqing laughed and let him go. The moonlight blurred her features, softening her sharp brows with a touch of tenderness. It's human nature to admire beauty, and she couldn't help but glance twice, meeting Helian Xiao's gaze as he looked up.
"I'm waiting for you." Helian Xiao was unexpectedly direct this time, as if he was just chatting casually. "I heard you were traveling tonight. It's a good thing you didn't rest."
Her heart suddenly softened, and she remembered that she did have something important to discuss with Helian Xiao.
In reality, she hadn't rushed back all this time just to meet this man. As her mind wandered, she heard Helian Xiao say, "I've had someone prepare some hot water for you, Princess. Please rest for a moment."
Li Hengqing nodded: "Okay."
Unexpectedly, she slept in for a rare late night the next day. When she woke up, the sun was already heating up the roof.
Li Hengqing stretched and stepped out of the tent. Unexpectedly, before she even met Helian Xiao, she heard a commotion in the distance. She couldn't help but frown. After all, she had a lot of things to do today and many people to meet, so time was precious.
What kind of conflict could have reached the royal tent? At her glance, Lang Yue hurried to investigate, returning moments later with the report: "Princess, it's two groups of shaman apprentices arguing about the Head Shaman and... Master Qiqige."
Qiqige and Wu Rigen had been at odds for a long time, but Li Hengqing didn't expect it to break out at this critical juncture - she thought it would last for a few more days.
But it wasn't entirely unexpected. There's an old Chinese saying: "It's a joy to have friends coming from afar." Since they'd come all the way to her tent to argue, she couldn't let their efforts go to waste.
Li Hengqing straightened his shirt and walked towards the source of the noise. Perhaps religious fervor invigorated people, as the two groups argued for quite a while, still full of energy.
"...Under the heavens, there's no reason for women to be messengers of the heavens! Women should stay home, get married, and have children. The Great Shaman's daughter doesn't set a good example, but instead wants to usurp her father's position. How can this be allowed?"
"If there wasn't one before, then there can't be one today? Lord Wu Rigen also said that Lord Qi Qige is the most talented of the new generation. Geniuses can't become great shamans. Are you letting a fool like you do this?"
"Even if bloodline is a factor, Lord Wu Rigen has other sons. I will never support Qi Qige!"
While Qiqige's opponents were still spitting and looking very excited, her supporters had already noticed Li Hengqing's figure and quickly turned around, bowed their heads and greeted him, "Khatun."
The other party also stopped talking, bit their lip, and reluctantly whispered hello: "...Khatun."
Li Hengqing glanced back and forth between the two groups of aggressive people and said leisurely, "This is about the succession of the Great Shaman. Instead of asking for heaven's will through sacrifice and going through the kuritai, you're just fighting here with words?"
The supporter tried to save face a little: "I know I was wrong, Khatun. He was the one who started the argument with me, insisting that the sacrifices during Lord Wurigen's illness couldn't be presided over by Lord Qiqige, and then the argument ended up involving the succession."
The opponents snorted coldly: "Everyone knows what it means to preside over the sacrifice on behalf of others."
Wu Rigen was ill? Li Hengqing's mind suddenly flashed to Wu Rigen's haggard face. He was indeed an old man. Even without any disaster or illness, the aging of the elderly is often instantaneous. Death is like a mountain collapsing.
"In that case," Li Hengqing said, "Master Agula is short of help. Since you're so free, why don't you go and help him out for a few days?"
Some people had already changed their expressions and tried to slip away, but Li Hengqing seemed to be interested, and said with a slight curl of his lips: "It just so happens that I have something important to do, so I'll go along."
The opponent stammered, "I, I'll get it..."
Li Hengqing glanced at him and said, "What are you going to get? If you work in the workshop, you will be provided with meals and all the tools."
The opponents fell silent.
The workshop area was expanded near the original new camp, and Agula and Naren simply moved there. It now boasts not only a residential area, but also workshops with largely standardized processes and a variety of products, as well as a comprehensive range of supporting facilities, including a school for the workers' children.
After a long, dormant winter, Li Hengqing devised a clever strategy, defining compulsory education as part of the rest period, and successfully secured the iron mine. During the remaining time, participation remained voluntary, with craftsmen and skilled tribal workers taking turns teaching classes on their days off. Simple literacy and arithmetic classes were also very popular. After nearly a year of promotion, she could clearly see a significant improvement in the quality of the workers.
Agula's residence was easy to find. He always had a sour face, and he was already quite prestigious, so no one dared to be his neighbor. When Naren saw Li Hengqing coming with his men, she jumped up and ran over from a distance, shouting, "Princess——"
Li Hengqing patted her head lovingly and found that the girl was much stronger than last year. He said sincerely: "Our little Naren has grown taller and is stronger than a calf."
Naren proudly showed her eight teeth and pulled Li Hengqing's clothes: "Princess, my father said that the cement you asked for is ready. I will take you to see it."
It was a simple patch of ground enclosed by rough wooden planks, an inorganic gray, very flat, even smoother than the gravel roads along the Nansheng official road. Li Hengqing stepped on it, and the ground, bearing his entire weight, remained motionless.
She couldn't help but smile happily, squatted down and looked at the little girl, and asked, "Where are the flywheel rammer and the animal-powered grader?"
"Those two big guys are right in the back. Dad said we have to try them out before we can be sure. I'm afraid we can't mass-produce them in a short time." Naren danced with joy again. "I helped Dad draw the blueprints for several parts, and Dad praised me for being so good!"
Li Hengqing thought of Agula's face, which was as black as charcoal, and thought to himself that he didn't expect that he could also praise people.
The shaman apprentice who followed him approached hesitantly and looked at the gray ground: "...Khatun, what is this?"
"The princess told me to look at the mortar. You guys are such idiots." Naren commented bluntly with her hands on her hips.
"It can be used to build roads, and perhaps even houses in the future," Li Hengqing explained. "This kind of road surface is not afraid of heavy rain and is very strong. You will stay here and build a test road. Is it okay for you, Naren?"
Naren's eyes widened and she nodded vigorously.
The shaman apprentices looked as if they had eaten a fly. Listening to a little girl's orders? Are you kidding?
Someone forced a smile and leaned over to Naren and said, "Okay, kid. We're here to help today. Can you ask your dad to come?"
Some even put on an ugly cold face and said, "Princess, since we are here to work, the brothers are willing to work hard. Do you want us to compensate you with a child to play with?"
Li Hengqing seemed indifferent: "Naren can do it well. If you don't believe me, let Agula tell you this."
Lang Yue had already noticed her look and trotted off to fetch Agula. Agula emerged from the tent, looking quite energetic, though sleepy-eyed. "Princess...what are these people doing?"
Despite his usual sour face with everyone, he visibly cooled down when facing these shaman apprentices. Lang Yue explained the situation briefly: "Master Agula, they insist on you directing the experiment."
Agula tutted loudly, "Then why don't I just take care of it? It's really troublesome."
He then returned to the house, brought a newly built folding chair, and led his men to the back of the house, continuing to speak to himself, "The test now is to test the stability of the structure. While most of the materials used in road construction are locally available, some concrete and water will inevitably need to be transported. The cart the princess requested is already built."
After saying that, he put down the stool, really ready to let it go.
The flywheel rammer resembled a giant spindle, a heavy iron flywheel suspended high above, wrapped with thick hemp rope. The other end of the rope connected to a massive iron rammer three times heavier than a traditional stone rammer. The shaman apprentice reluctantly stepped forward under Naren's command. As soon as the two of them pulled the capstan, the iron rammer slammed into the ground with tremendous force.
Another animal-powered grader looks like a giant rake, with a flat, angled iron plate underneath, and livestock can be harnessed to the front.
Li Hengqing watched the experiment for a quarter of an hour before taking her leave. She had wanted to build the road for a long time, but this type of contact infrastructure construction was labor-intensive, and the only way to alleviate this difficulty was to improve the efficiency of the tools. She was grateful for the iron ore the system had sent her; without it, mass-producing these ineffective pieces of steel would have required a ten-day, ten-night argument on the Curry stage.
In fact, there are still conservatives who are very dissatisfied with Li Hengqing for not investing all the iron ore into weapons and military industry.
She returned to her tent and saw her horse had new, exceptionally shiny shoes, the result of a new forging method. Coal could generate unprecedented temperatures, significantly improving the performance of iron products and allowing for the production of steel.
But to achieve large-scale production, roads needed to be built between the iron and coal mines and the tribe. And if the tribe's products were to be sold in large quantities to Nansheng, even more roads were needed. The storage problem would eventually be solved. Li Hengqing returned to the tent and saw a reply from Chief Cen, agreeing to store the tribe's goods at the settlement.
Of course, Li Hengqing wouldn't treat him unfairly. He allocated a generous storage fee from the profits of the goods, but he had tried to refuse it in his letter. She laughed, thinking that even modern express lockers charge fees. If Cainiao Express Station becomes popular in the future, will everyone still be asked to work for love?
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