The Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 101: Yansui is blocked by traffic

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Hu Xinxue received Zhu Youzhen's promise, and the worry in her heart could finally be released. She burst into tears and ignored the fact that Zhu Youzhen was the master and her handmaid, so she cried so much that the flowers around her also thanked her.

"Don't cry, Xue'er, look, it's ugly if you cry and make your face dirty." Zhu Youzhen felt that Hu Xinxue's delicate and fair face was covered with tears, it really looked like a snow lotus was hanging on it. The feeling of morning dew.

Hu Xinxue stopped crying and glanced at Zhu Youjian, remembering Zhu Youjian's identity. In front of Zhu Youjian, in Zhu Youjian's mansion, she cried so unscrupulously that she did not fit her status as a maid. She lowered her head awkwardly, and then smiled silently.

This woman's tears are like rain in June, come and go as they say.

Zu Dashou is now the governor of the three sides. Hu Tingyan's head is on the first three sides of the biography. Zu Dashou must know where it is. Zhu Youjian prepared to send soldiers to see Zu Dashou early the next morning, to return to the head of Hu Tingyan.

"Your Majesty, the slave and maid have something to ask for." Hu Xinxue wiped away tears with the silk kerchief Zhu Youjian handed over. The cry just now made her vent, and now her mind has recovered.

"What else?" Zhu Youjian doubted whether Sun Chuanting thought he was too busy and deliberately threw these questions to himself.

"Your Majesty, the maidservant is in the capital, and there is a younger brother named Hu Xinxuan. Because he is dissatisfied with Sanchi, he should still be alive in the world. Please inquire for your majesty. The maidservant is also unable to raise his younger brother now. I just want to know his whereabouts, as long as he knows his safety That's it."

Zhu Youzhen meditated in his heart, to find out the whereabouts of this child, who should he look for? Jingshi himself has no serious friends, Li Chunye? No, in order to reduce Wei Zhongxian’s suspicion of him, there is nothing special, it is best not to look for him, then who can I look for? Zhou Wenqi, Zhu Youjian thought of this investigator, he should be very good at doing such things.

"His Royal Highness..." Hu Xinxue saw Zhu Youzhen not making a sound, thinking that her request was too high.

"Oh, I have already thought about it." Zhu You called a soldier, whispered, and sent him away. "Xue'er, to find out about your brother, the arrangements have been made. As long as he is still in the capital, he will definitely be able to find out his whereabouts."

"The slave and maid's heart is concerned about these two things. Now I have the favor of His Highness, and since then, there is no more caring in the slave's heart." Hu Xinxue respectfully knocked Zhu Youjian three times, as a young woman who lost her identity, status, and family wealth. Apart from kowtow, she really couldn't think of any way to repay Zhu Youzhen.

With Hu Xinxue's care, Zhu Youzhen was much more comfortable. Although Hu Xinxue, who was born as a young lady, is not very good at serving men, and always makes a lot of pranks, Zhu Youjian thinks that Hu Xinxue is stronger than the careless soldiers, at least more eye-catching than the soldiers. Besides, Miss Hu's progress is quite fast.

Zhu Youjian is still busy with his affairs.

Soap is still under development and has not been put into production; cement technology has matured and some skilled workers have been trained.

His main energy is still on the cement avenue, especially the Xiyan avenue from Xi'an to Yansui.

During the eradication of banditry, Zhu Youjian walked this road almost all the way and had some understanding of the conditions of this section of the road.

This is the area where banditry is most severe in Shaanxi.

Originally barren, coupled with the destruction of banditry, it is also the easiest place to breed banditry again.

The root cause of Shaanxi banditry lies in poverty, and Yansui is the poverty in poverty, the bottom of the pot.

Now Yansui has discovered a huge coal mine, which is a good opportunity for poverty alleviation. But the prerequisite for poverty alleviation is developed transportation. As the saying goes, if you want to be rich in poor mountains and bad rivers, you should have fewer children and build roads.

Yansui is the place surrounded by poor mountains.

The Yellow River is commonly known as "nine bends and eighteen bends", which is not bad at all, especially the middle and upper reaches of the river. In the Shaanxi section, the Yellow River bends into a huge "ji" shape, and Yansui is located at the top of the "ji".

Why did the Yellow River bend into the shape of "Ji" instead of rolling eastward like the Yangtze River? Zhu Youzhen closed his eyes and knew that it was because of the obstruction of hills, and Yansui was nestled among the mountains.

Yansui is in the mountains, and the traffic conditions can be imagined.

The traffic congestion in Yansui is also reflected externally. Both the north and northwest of Yansui are the Great Wall, which hinders the exchanges and development of Yansui in these directions.

Now, the east of Yansui is adjacent to Shanxi across the natural danger of the Yellow River. Not to mention the high mountains on both sides of the Yellow River here, it is not easy to find a ferry. The only advantage of Yansui is coal, and Shanxi is the province with the richest coal resources, and they are all high-quality and easy-to-develop types. As long as the loess and stones on the surface are exposed, they can be mined directly in the open pit without even digging in coal kilns. Therefore, even if Yansui has a highway connecting Shanxi, coal cannot be sold.

The Great Wall is located to the north and west of Yansui. Outside the Great Wall is the Yellow River. Between the Great Wall and the Yellow River is the Hetao area with fertile water and grass. It is a place where the Han people and the northern nomads have fought for thousands of years. The Mongolians still occupy the area. The advantage.

The only hope for Yansui is to carry out logistics with Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi, in the south. Xiyan Avenue is the only channel connecting Yansui and Xi'an.

Therefore, Zhu Youzhen is making every effort to step up the construction of this avenue. On this road, there are many mountains, and there are too many hills that hinder road construction.

Fortunately, there is no shortage of gunpowder in Ming Dynasty. The low hills are directly exploded with gunpowder, and the fallen rocks can also be used as roadbeds.

Xiyan Avenue is divided into three sections: Xitong section from Xi’an to Tongzhou, Tongyan section from Tongzhou to Yan’an, and Yanyan section from Yan’an to Yansui. Among them, the extension section is the longest.

Construction of these three sections of avenues started from both ends almost simultaneously. Zhu Youjian is not short of manpower now. He has 170,000 bandits and prisoners of war in his hand, plus the people conscripted nearby, so he has abundant human resources.

The roadbed of the avenue is basically completed, and now the cement avenue is built, much faster than the official road before.

In the past, the main time and manpower for the construction of official roads were spent on the roadbed. All roadbeds are completed by manual methods. In groups of four or eight people, the stones are polished into a grinding disc shape, holes are drilled on all sides or eight sides, wooden blocks are installed, and ropes are tied. Four or eight persons in each group tighten the ropes, let the millstones hang in the air, and then put them down in a free fall, hit the ground, and compact the roadbed. One by one roadbed, repeated hammering and compaction.

Now the construction of cement roads is much simpler. As long as the roadbed is simply compacted, 3-4 inches of gravel is placed on it, and then 2 inches of concrete is poured, and the avenue is successful when the cement concrete sets.

Due to the weather, the concrete pavement was not poured quickly, which made Zhu Youjian very anxious. Shaanxi is too cold in the morning and evening, the temperature is low, the speed of cement condensing is very slow, and it is easy to be damaged by freezing. It can only be poured around noon.

However, the construction of the cement road has not stopped. It slowly extends in six directions from four cities, especially the section from Xi’an to Tongzhou, which has the shortest mileage. Since the construction of the cement road starts at the same time from Xi’an and Tongzhou, it is estimated that it will be possible before the end of the year. the end.

On this day, Zhu Youjian was surveying the road, and the soldiers sent to find Zu Dashou came back. "His Royal Highness, Miss Hu's father's head has been found." Zhu Youjian often referred to Hu Xinxue as Miss Hu in front of soldiers, and his soldiers followed suit, and did not treat Hu Xinxue as an ordinary maid.

"Oh, is there any rot?"

"His Royal Highness, there is no decay. In order to pass the first three sides, the first stage is marinated with lime, and the temperature is very low, it is estimated that it will not rot within half a year."

"Yeah. Then you send it back first and let Miss Hu have a look!" Zhu Youjian knew that Hu Xinxue saw her father's first class, and it was unavoidable that it was another cry. He really didn't want to see her crying. Look like.

When Zhu Youjian returned to the mansion, it was already dark, and Hu Xinxue's weeping cry had just ended.

"The slave and maid thanked Your Majesty." Seeing Zhu Youzhen come back, Hu Xinxue wiped away her tears, and slammed her head at him again.

"Xue'er, get up! You don't need to keep kowtow, there are many ways to repay." Zhu Youzhen comes from later generations and is very disgusted with kowtow at every turn. Whether a man or a daughter, there should be gold under his knees.

Besides kowtow, where can I repay? After Hu Xinxue got up, she looked at Zhu Youqian with her head held high and said nothing.

"Xue'er, people can't come back to life after death, don't be too sad, find a lucky day to bury your father is serious." Zhu Youjian felt that he was afraid of Hu Xinxue's gaze, as if he had done something wrong. If he really wants to do something wrong, isn't the Miss Hu next door already eaten

Hu Xinxue nodded: "Which auspicious day should I choose? In order to let my father overtake birth as soon as possible, let's do it tomorrow!"

"Okay, then tomorrow. In the morning, I will arrange a few soldiers, prepare hoes, and choose a refreshing place outside the city." To help people to the end, Hu Xinxue, a woman who has no ability to bury her father, Zhu Youjian I had to do everything on my behalf, "Xue'er, you rest early."

Hu Xinxue nodded weakly, looked at Zhu Youjian again, and slowly returned to her room. For the first time, she did not wash Zhu Youzhen's feet.

Hu Tingyan’s head did not enter Zhu Youjian’s mansion. According to local habits, the dead cannot go home and bring bad luck to the family. Moreover, it is a head. There is nothing special about Hu Tingyan and Zhu Youjian. relationship.

Hu Tingyan's first stage was placed in an open space three hundred steps away to the east of the mansion. In order to prevent being spoiled by cats and dogs at night, the first stage was installed in a large wooden niche.

The next morning, Zhu Youjian arranged for the soldiers to go to the coffin shop to buy a coffin and another quilt. After the coffin was lifted out of the coffin shop, the soldiers opened the coffin, first put half of the quilt on the bottom of the coffin, then placed the first stage on the quilt, covered the other half of the quilt, and closed the coffin lid. Because there is no body, there is no need for clothes or anything.

The coffin was carried to the mountain col outside the east city for burial.

Hu Xinxue worried that when he burned paper during Qingming and Winter Solstice in the future, he could not find his father's tomb, so he begged the soldiers to go to the city to carve a tombstone. But Hu Tingyan was a prisoner of the imperial court, and his name could not be engraved on the tombstone. In the end, a literate soldier came up with an idea to engrave the word Gu Yue on the tombstone. Together, Gu Yue is a beard, which is Hu Tingyan's surname. Hu Xinxue also had no better way, so she had to engrave the word Gu Yue on the tombstone.