In the Tai Chi Hall, Li Shimin listened to Li Chengqian's petition and couldn't believe it.

After looking at Li Chengqian blankly for a while, Li Shimin frowned and said:

"Qian'er, the Tang Dynasty has a vast territory, high mountains and long roads, and transportation is inconvenient. There is no way around this."

"The imperial court also orders the states and counties to continuously repair official roads every year. Now the roads are much better than those of the previous dynasty. Why does the emperor deliberately bring up the issue of repairing official roads now?"

Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling and others also looked surprised. They wanted to know why the Crown Prince was so hot-headed. Is it child's play to cultivate the country's officialdom?

Facing the gazes of His Majesty Li Er and all the ministers, Li Chengqian was not as timid as before, but said confidently:

"Father, there is nothing I can do about the long distance, and I believe that as the territory of the Tang Dynasty becomes larger and larger, this problem will only become more and more serious. However, the transportation is inconvenient, which can be improved. of."

"Nowadays, if there is a heavy rain or people and horses trample the official roads in the Tang Dynasty, the entire road will fall into mud. Even the official roads near Chang'an cannot withstand heavy rains and blizzards. "

"Today I went to Junyangfang to express condolences, but my previous thoughts were completely overturned. It turns out that the road can still be made like that."

"Father, you don't know that the cement road from Gyeonggi Province to Junyangfang is simply smoother than the street on Zhuque Street, and the time it takes is at least doubled."

Li Chengqian was really shocked. After walking through the flat cement road of Junyangfang, he no longer looked down upon the bumpy official road.

After rushing back to Chang'an City from Junyangfang, we went directly to Tai Chi Hall.

It happened that Li Er summoned several ministers from the court to discuss the matter, and this was the scene just now.

Of course, Li Shimin also knew the current situation of the Tang Dynasty's officialdom. As an emperor who fought all year round, he certainly knew the importance of a good road to the Tang Dynasty.

The quality of roads directly affects the speed of material transfer and transportation, and can also save transportation costs.

Li Shimin was thoughtful and asked: "Qian'er, do you mean to pave all the roads with cement?"

Li Chengqian nodded: "Father, yes, if you want to build it, just build a cement road!"

"Besides, there is a saying that if you want to get rich, you must first build roads. Well-built roads will not only speed up the transmission of information, but more importantly, it can also greatly improve the living standards of the people and stabilize the rule of the court."

Changsun Wuji and others suddenly screamed, inexplicably surprised: "Building cement roads across the country? Is this His Highness the Crown Prince crazy?"

Of course they had heard about the cement road built in Junyangfang, but the cost of construction was too high in comparison.

Not to mention how expensive the cement was, even the labor costs for digging mountains and building roads were not something the imperial court could afford.

What's more, if there were so many official roads in the Tang Dynasty, if they were all built into cement roads, even if the taxes in Chaoyang were doubled several times, it would not be enough.

Cement has been used in the construction of Daming Palace. Although we don’t know how much it will cost, we imagine it will not be very cheap.

In addition, gravel and other paving materials are also a huge expense. Isn’t it a fantasy?

Li Shimin also took a breath. Although he thought his son's idea was good, the feasibility was too poor.

Is building cement roads a good thing?

Needless to say, it is certainly a good thing that will benefit the future.

Ever since he learned about the function of cement, Li Shimin was actually very enthusiastic.

Of course, the cement road in Junyangfang was deliberately explored by Baiqi. When Wu Meiniang was building the road, she was impeached by the censor because of the land occupation issue.

However, after the investigation, Li Er was extremely envious, but he could only be envious.

I also imagined that one day all the official roads in the Tang Dynasty would be as spacious and flat as that.

Thinking and doing are two different things!

The Daming Palace under construction actually uses a lot of cement. How could Li Shimin not know the benefits of these cement roads?

But why didn’t you dare to propose the idea of ​​converting the official road into a cement road?

Strength does not allow it.

It is said that the cement road, which is only a few dozen miles long, cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the national treasury simply cannot bear such a huge burden.

In the Tang Dynasty, all official roads were paved with cement roads. Even if he took off his underwear, he wouldn't be able to raise so much money.

What's more, there are many places where money is needed in the empire. Whether it is natural disasters or other infrastructure, it will require a lot of expenditure.

Even if Junyangfang pays more taxes this year, if it is spread over the entire empire, it will only be a drop in the bucket.

The Tang Dynasty was founded on the corpse of the Sui Dynasty.

Of course Li Er has studied how talented Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty was, but even now he dare not say that it is far beyond the heyday of the previous dynasty.

Then why did the country completely collapse in the hands of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty in just a dozen years?

The failure of the three expeditions to Goguryeo was certainly one of the reasons.

But in Li Shimin's view, the main reason for the demise of the Sui Dynasty was that Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty took too big a step.

In the first year of Daye, Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty ordered the construction of the Eastern Capital and recruited millions of civilians every month. Although this huge project was completed in more than a year, various productions were delayed.

Immediately afterwards, Emperor Yang of Sui ordered the construction of canals and various palaces.

In particular, the construction of the Grand Canal once again involved millions of civilians and lasted five years before the foundation of the empire was shaken.

You must know that the entire Sui Dynasty had a population of more than 30 million, and there were millions of civilians recruited to build the canal.

All things considered, excluding women, children, the old, weak, sick and disabled, the number of adult men in the Sui Dynasty was less than 10 million at most.

Transferring so much of the adult workforce for several years at once will of course harm the country.

The construction period of these projects was long, and coupled with layer upon layer of oppression, countless civilians died from exhaustion.

Such a vicious cycle left the fields uncultivated and the people living in dire straits. Later, coupled with the failure of the three expeditions to Korea, it was considered the last breath of the Sui Dynasty.

Therefore, since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, Li Er has been very cautious about recruiting civilians on a large scale.

Even the recruitment of government soldiers has strict regulations, and the principle of taking more soldiers first is followed.

Naturally, Li Shimin only dared to think about the idea of ​​building cement roads across the country in his dreams.

Now that Li Chengqian actually proposed such a plan, it was simply suicidal and simply unfeasible.

To build cement roads across the country, the amount of money and people involved must be astronomical.

If we really dared to do this, without the invasion of external enemies, civil strife would break out in Datang itself, and the people would be in dire straits.

Thinking that his son had not thought it through, Li Shimin said seriously: "Qian'er, my father naturally knows that this cement road plan is a good thing, but when it is implemented, it may not necessarily lead to good results."

"The governance of a country cannot be looked at blindly, but must be considered comprehensively."

"The Grand Canal of the former Sui Dynasty was also a project that benefited the country and the people. It not only connected the north and the south and made the circulation of people and materials more convenient, but it also led to the demise of the Sui Dynasty. Therefore, as long as people's livelihood is involved, we must be cautious. "

Changsun Wuji was also frightened and broke out in a cold sweat, and quickly said: "Yes, Your Highness, although the population and wealth of the Tang Dynasty have increased, the other barbarians are eyeing it."

"The successive years of battles have made the Tang Dynasty worse than the previous dynasty in its heyday. If we act rashly, we will definitely cause trouble."

"His Royal Highness just said that building cement roads has many benefits, and I agree with him, but I don't agree with him that it can benefit the people."

After a pause, he added: "Did someone do this to deceive the public with their evil words? His intentions are deplorable."

Changsun Wuji knew very well about His Highness the Crown Prince. Although he was timid, he was not that stupid.

If you think carefully, you will definitely find that the plan is not feasible.

His Royal Highness the Prince had just returned from Junyangfang, and he was so anxious that he wanted to test it...

After hearing the analysis of His Majesty Li Er and Changsun Wuji, other ministers also expressed doubts.

In the eyes of everyone, although it sounds good, it is really not a good plan because it wastes people and money.

Li Chengqian suddenly became a little anxious!

Although Yang Fan was given guidance, the plan was actually proposed by him himself.

Li Chengqian also wanted to show off in front of Li Er to increase his sense of presence, so he quickly explained:

"Mr. Zhao, please don't talk nonsense. This was proposed by Gu himself, and Marquis Zhongyi just gave some suggestions...Besides, Gu still thinks it is more feasible."

Hearing Li Chengqian's words, Changsun Wuji's eyes lit up. Sure enough, it was the mallet that finally caught your sore foot, so he quickly said:

"Your Majesty, by doing this, Marquis Zhongyi must be trying to plunge the empire into chaos and His Highness into injustice. Please make an order to punish him for his evil words and deceiving the public."

Seeing that Changsun Wuji was so urgent, Fang Xuanling, who had been closing his eyes to meditate, slowly said: "Your Majesty, based on my understanding of Marquis Zhongyi, since he agrees with His Highness's plan, it should not be without purpose. Since the Crown Prince proposed it,

Why don't you let His Highness the Crown Prince finish talking about whether there is anything else hidden."

Li Ji and others who originally committed the crime and watched the flowers also agreed.

He glanced at Fang Xuanling gratefully and saw that Li Er did not stop him. Li Chengqian proudly held up his chest and talked:

"Father, I know what you are worried about. In fact, I also had such worries at the beginning."

"But after thinking about it, it can actually be solved. There are many criminals in the Tang Dynasty. In addition, aren't there hundreds of thousands of Turks who have moved into the Guanzhong area?"

"As long as we make reasonable use of these people, the court can make these people ours as long as they pay a small amount of money."

"Besides, it doesn't have to be implemented nationwide at the beginning. It only needs to be a pilot near Chang'an City first. If feasible, it can be gradually rolled out."

"The reason why the canal project led to the demise of the Sui Dynasty was that Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty was too impatient and acted recklessly regardless of the actual situation."

"But when building cement roads, we can fully draw on the experience and lessons learned from the construction of the Grand Canal and plan for it gradually. In this way, we don't have to worry about causing civil unrest."

"In addition, we can use segmented contracting to hire workers for the common people, which can not only reduce the burden on the court, but also increase the income of the common people. It is simply killing two birds with one stone and benefiting the country and the people."

Obviously, Li Chengqian integrated and improved what he heard from Yang Fan and put forward a set of feasible plans.
To be continued...