After returning to the inn, Song Zhiyuan and Mu Mingqian quickly wrote a plan to build a cross-river dam.
After on-site investigation, Wen Jinhe found two drawings that met the requirements for crossing the river, and then called Fei Yi over.
"Please read this book carefully, as well as these two drawings. Based on the actual conditions of the river crossing, you can finalize the construction design drawing of the river crossing dam within three days."
Fei Yi stared at the densely packed drawings. These drawings did not seem to be specially designed for Yuehe. There were many discrepancies with the conditions of today's survey. He opened the book again, glanced at it twice, and quickly turned the pages.
He raised his head and looked at Wen Jinhe in disbelief, "Princess, do you know who wrote this book?"
Are there still such talents in Beidi Kingdom? I had never heard of it in the Ministry of Industry.
Wen Jinhe looked away and said, "I sent someone to search for it before I came here. There is no signature."
Fei Yi leaned closer to the book, the tip of his nose twitching slightly, "The ink smell is so strong, why does it feel like it was newly written?"
"Ahem... time is running out, hurry up and think." Wen Jinhe coughed twice and covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief.
Fei Yi took his things and left happily.
The prefect Wang will leave Nancheng before the end of the year. In the remaining two months, he will stay with Mu Mingqian. After serving for three years, he knows Nancheng very well.
Fei Yi stayed up until midnight for three consecutive nights and finally sketched out the construction design of the cross-river dam.
After working together with Song Zhiyuan and others, several people came to report to Wen Jinhe.
"We will recruit 5,000 workers starting from the beginning of October without stopping every day. It is expected to take a year and a half."
"The construction period is too long. We don't have a day off all year round. What if it rains and snows heavily? People can freeze to death if they stay outside for a day in the cold winter in the north." By early November, it's time to burn charcoal in the house.
"There are not enough people in Nancheng, so we recruit from surrounding cities. Huyue City also has no harvest. The number of people has doubled, and the first recruit is 10,000."
Song Zhiyuan said with a look of embarrassment: "There are too many people to manage, and the food alone costs a lot of money every day."
The emperor asked Wen Jinhe to take out ten million taels at once, which she couldn't afford. During the construction of the cross-river dam, profits from the shops in the capital city would be continuously sent over to make up for the shortage of silver here.
When Wen Jinhe left the capital, half of the two million taels allocated by the Ministry of Revenue was quickly sent to Shuonan City to buy food for Su Huaizhi. Now the food is stored in the store's warehouse.
"You don't have to worry about money matters. That is what I, the princess, should worry about. As long as every penny is used wisely and does not go into the pockets of corrupt officials, I will be happy to pay it. As for order management, a penny brought from the capital Thousands of soldiers are not for nothing, let Lu Jue and Lu Qi cooperate. "
"Mom, there is an announcement posted at the gate of the government office. Princess Che is going to build a cross-river dam. She wants to recruit workers. Breakfast and lunch are included. There is also 20 cents a day, a bucket of rice, and the wages are paid once every seven days." A young man carrying a worn bamboo basket seemed to He pushed open the cracked wooden door like crazy, knelt down by the bed and held the hand of his elderly mother.
The old woman lying on the bed raised her hand with her weak body, "Really, when are you going to work?"
"My son has given his name and will go tomorrow."
"Okay... okay... the child in your mother-in-law's belly finally has something to eat." As she said that, the old woman cried excitedly.
The government offices in Nancheng and Huyue City posted notices that you could sign up at the government offices or at the shop under the name of Princess Che.
The silt washed ashore by floods needs to be cleaned and transported to the fields, and the materials needed to make cement also need to be dug by workers.
Wen Jinhe was wearing a large cloak. The dust on the ground was extremely heavy, and the white shoe uppers were now dirty.
Fei Yi's face was ashen as he walked into the earthen kiln with Wen Jinhe.
"After the first failure, I burned it several times, and finally it looked like the princess said."
Wen Jinhe looked at the volcano-shaped cement piled on the ground. It looked like it and smelled right. "How does it work?"
Fei Yi's eyebrows stood up one by one. He held a shovel in one hand and waved the other hand excitedly in the air. "It's very strong after drying. It's much better than stone bricks."
When Princess Che handed him the raw material ratio, he was quite confused. He had never heard of cement. Would it be easy to use after making it?
I didn't expect the effect to be so good. I can make it into any shape I want.
The limestone, iron ore and clay that Princess Tohru mentioned are abundant in the thirteen cities in the north.
"Remember, when building a cross-river dam, you need to use long irons to build a skeleton in the middle, and then pour cement." This can serve as a transmission rod and reinforcement.
Fei Yi nodded in agreement.
Song Zhiyuan and Mu Mingqian, who were standing aside, looked at each other and raised their eyebrows at each other.
Song Zhiyuan had no choice but to persuade, "Princess, the price of pig iron is too expensive. If the cement is filled with pig iron, the construction cost will at least double."
Although Wen Jinhe paid for the cross-river dam, they didn't want to run out of money halfway through the construction.
The ten million taels calculated by the Ministry of Household Affairs at the beginning was watery, but that was based on the original construction. Now it is made of cement and pig iron, and the wages paid by the princess to the workers are not low.
Breakfast and lunch are two meals. You need to be full every meal, and you have to have both meat and vegetables. This food is so good.
Wen Jinhe certainly knew that once pig iron was used, the cost would increase significantly. However, if only cement is used, the dam will soon develop cracks after being beaten by accumulated river water for many years, and it will not last for many years.
"Pig iron must be used, and the dam across the river will consume a huge amount of manpower and material resources. Since it is necessary to do it, we must strive for the best, otherwise it will have to be rebuilt more than ten years later, which will cost another sum of money."
Su Mansion in Shuonan City.
Su Huaizhi was just about to lie down and sleep when a black shadow appeared in the room and stared at him.
He was so frightened that he picked up the quilt on the bed and wrapped it around himself.
"Mr. Su, this is a letter from the princess." The secret guard walked to the bedside, took out an envelope from his arms and handed it to him.
Su Huaizhi opened the quilt angrily and said, "Every time you come here, can you knock on the door? You scare me out of my soul."
The secret guard handed the letter forward and said, "The princess is still waiting for your reply."
Su Huaizhi stood up, walked to the desk with heavy steps, sat down, tore open the seal, and frowned so hard that he could pinch a fly.
"Why do you need food again? During the previous drought in the north, I plundered almost all the food in Shuonan City. A month ago, I was asked to buy food and send it to the thirteen cities in the north. Including Shuonan City, several surrounding cities have autumn harvests. The last batch of grain has been delivered. Now I am asked to get so much wheat. Where can I get it? "
While working with Wen Jinhe, Su Huaizhi earned a lot of money, but he also ran a lot of errands.
Each time it was a big deal, the difficulty was getting bigger and bigger.
Secret guard: "The princess said that Shuonan City is the richest. This trivial matter will not trouble Mr. Su."
Su Huaizhi shook his head and sighed heavily. After thinking for a moment, he picked up his pen and started writing a reply to Wen Jinhe.
