In fact, as early as the end of the fourth year of Jianji, the east-west first-class national highway (Liangjing Dayi Road) had been built to Bianzhou. However, due to factors such as war expenses, the subsequent action was very slow. In two years, only the westward route was connected to Bianzhou.

When we arrived at Mianchi County, we had not yet left Henan Prefecture, and we went eastward to Jingrong Town (today's northeast of Lankao), but we had not yet left Bianzhou.

In the following two or three years, the Liangjing Post Road was built intermittently. Currently, it passes through Shaanzhou City in the west and continues towards Tongguan. The cost of this section is still relatively high, and widening in many places is a bit difficult and requires a lot of manpower.

The eastward movement was a little faster, and after passing the examination, we arrived at Jiyin County in Caozhou. In other words, the Bian and Cao sections of more than 200 miles have been fully connected, and the eastward section from Caozhou to Yunzhou has also been completed.

More than thirty miles away, it's not very far from Dingtao Town.

The north-south Yunxiang Road continues to stop at Taihang Pass at its northern end, and passes through Fangcheng County at its southern end, passing through Bowang Ancient City, Nanyang County, and Juiyang Ancient City and arriving in Xinye County, heading towards Dengcheng Ancient City and Anyang.

If we drive in the direction of the county, we will definitely be able to build it to the outside of Xiangyang City next year.

The two main roads, with Luoyang as the intersection, are actually the backbone of the empire's projects. Together with four-wheeled carriages, they can benefit all people. In addition to the two major post roads and Yunxiang Road, there are actually some small-scale projects.

Chang'an, Xijing, is building roads in both directions to Xingning and Huazhou. On the Beijing side, the section from Fucheng to Changping County has been built to make it easier for saints to soak in hot springs.

Two four-wheeled carriages entered the national highway one after another, with Xia Ruqi and Zhong Yanyou leading troops to guard them.

It was October at that time, and the work in the fields had already been finished. The farmers were repairing the canals. When they saw a large group of soldiers and two rare large carriages from a distance, they were very surprised and stopped their work.

Watch from the roadside.

Because there were soldiers blocking the view, some people even climbed up the tree to watch the strange things. The scene was very lively. "Spread out a little and let people take a look." Shao Shude said happily while blowing the wind on the carriage.

Walking on a flat first-class national highway, pulled by four draft horses, the speed was soaring - he suspected it was 20 kilometers per hour, but it was definitely not that fast when hauling goods.

Zhao Zhi rode in the same car with him and said with great emotion: "Your Majesty, if it were in the former Tang Dynasty, this car would definitely not be used by many people, but in this dynasty it is somewhat possible."

"Why?" Shao Shude asked curiously.

"Although there were many official horses and civilian horses in the former Tang Dynasty, they were still not as good as this dynasty." Zhao Zhi said: "This is all the result of His Majesty. In the former Tang Dynasty, there were many official horses but few civilian horses. This dynasty has many official horses, which is different from the former Tang Dynasty.

They are almost the same, but the people's horses are far superior to those of the previous Tang Dynasty. Therefore, horses are very cheap and many people can afford them."

Shao Shude nodded.

In fact, four-wheeled carriages appeared in the Roman era, but then experienced a long period of low ebb. Although they were used a lot, they were definitely not available everywhere. The reasons are closely related to road conditions, costs, and technology.

It was not until the first agricultural revolution broke out in Europe that four-wheeled carriages were used again on a large scale.

With the promotion of the three-field system, Europeans began to plant alfalfa, turnips, oats and other crops in large quantities, which were excellent feed for horses. This greatly increased the maintenance of horses among the people, and the cost of using horses was finally lower than that of cattle.

Naturally, horse-drawn carriages began to replace ox-carts in large numbers.

As the market share of horse-drawn carriages surpassed that of ox-carts, it was natural to regain the four-wheeled horse-drawn carriages that had been marginalized due to cost issues, so the technology of this kind of horse-drawn carriages was constantly improved.

By the first half of the 17th century, that is, at the end of China's Ming Dynasty, four-wheeled taxis even appeared in London, which only served passengers in the city.

As for what to do in the areas outside the city where the traffic situation is extremely bad, of course it is to build roads, because the demand for carriage transportation is increasing day by day, and it is impossible not to build roads, so the improvement of transportation infrastructure has been promoted step by step.

It can be seen from this process that the cost issue is very important, it is the basis of everything.

The superiority of four-wheeled carriages is obviously far superior to that of oxen-carts, but because horses are scarce and the cost of use is too high, which was three times that of oxen before the 12th century, four-wheeled carriages are almost extinct.

But when the three-yard system became popular throughout northwest Europe and the number of horses exploded, everything changed.

Carriages appeared, first the old style from the Roman era, and then iteratively improved. When the production, quality, and cost of metal gears and bearings reached an acceptable level, new steering devices also appeared, and slowly replaced the old carriages.

.

The whole process does not require your manual intervention, because intervention is useless. If you get on the carriage of the 15th and 16th centuries in the 11th and 12th centuries, it will only make this kind of thing disappear, because the status of the carriage was not stable at that time, and such a high price

Cost and low output will only make people continue to use bullock carts.

The few orders from the nobility and royal family are not enough to promote the progress of the industry, because the scale is completely insufficient. The development of other industries is also very immature, and there are no common parts to reduce costs for you. If this continues, it will only stifle new things.

"Secondly..." Zhao Zhi continued: "If this car is carrying passengers, you can choose a fast draft horse, or use four horses to pull it. If you are pulling goods, you can choose to go slower, but

It is a strong draft horse. The former Tang Dynasty did not select and breed horse breeds, so it fell short in this regard. Your Majesty has been devoted to horse administration for thirty years and has achieved many fruits. In this matter, none of the saints in the former Tang Dynasty can compare with Your Majesty."

When Shao Shude heard this, he stroked his beard proudly and smiled.

I have changed the world, and this feeling is so great.

Carefully analyze the level of productivity, respect objective laws, actively integrate into society, and leverage progress bit by bit in a realistic way. It does not make people of this era feel too abrupt, because if they feel this way, they are likely to have unexpected things

resistance.

Make changes little by little and slowly add up to more. This will have the least resistance and the best chance of success. He did it.

Of course, we have to thank the surprisingly open atmosphere of the Tang Dynasty. In another era, this may not have been successful. This is true. The carriage went all the way north. After walking for almost an hour, we saw the city wall of Changping County in the distance.

.

There were more people here. After seeing the shining knight with the silver saddle, and then seeing the four-wheeled carriage running very fast, two of them in succession, everyone's attention was suddenly attracted.

"Could it be a holy driver?" Someone asked. "When a holy driver goes on a tour, does he only have four wheels?"

"Not to mention four wheels, there are dozens of wheels. Yang Guang has ridden in this kind of car when he inspected the grassland." "How do you know? How can dozens of wheels turn?"

"I heard what others said." The man said unconvinced, "As long as there are enough horses, you can turn around even if you pull them hard. Even if it's a little slow, it shouldn't be so fast."

Liu Shoujing was about to enter the city when he heard the noise of the people and stopped immediately.

He is a direct descendant of the Liu family in Changping, and is fifteen years old this year. In the fourth year of Jianji's reign, he was selected to go to the palace to study with the princes and princesses. This time, because the elder in the family was seriously ill, he took a few days off and returned home.

During the visit, he didn't expect to see the Holy Emperor before he entered Changping City - he knew very well that the large group of Yin'anzhi guards could only be saints. Even if the Queen went on a tour, they would only be accompanied by palace guards, and it was impossible to send out Yin'anzhi's guards.

.

He did not delay outside and quickly entered the city.

After a while, several teenagers suddenly rushed in from outside, ran straight to a store, and asked breathlessly: "Shop, is there that one...that one...is that the one?"

Liu Shoujing was curious, stopped and listened silently.

This is a shop that mainly sells wild products, medicinal materials, and leathers from the mountains outside the Great Wall. The shop's business was slow, and he was dozing at the door. Hearing this, he glanced at the young man, sighed, and said: "It's a pity that you can't do it at such a young age.

"

"Huh?" The leading boy's face was full of questions.

"The saint is over fifty, and he can still control several girls at night, even winning princes and princesses..." The shopkeeper shook his head and said: "You are only fifteen or sixteen years old. You are young and don't know how to take care of your body. Alas, you are late.

Alas, that medicine is no longer available in the store."

"You Jia Shu! How can you accuse someone of innocence out of thin air?" The young man grabbed the shopkeeper by the collar, blushed and said angrily, "I'm here to buy a leather hat, what do you want?"

"Uh..." The store owner was stupid. It turned out that he had misunderstood, so he complained repeatedly. The young man let go of his hand and cursed to himself.

At this age, you can say that he can't do anything else, but he needs the medicine of tiger and wolf to be able to

Maintaining that would be insulting, so he was particularly angry. The store owner wiped away his cold sweat and ushered five or six teenagers into the store. They were making a lot of noise outside. People who didn't know the truth saw him and probably thought he was selling fake medicine.

"What kind of leather hat do you want? Our store has sheepskin hats, dog skin hats..." The store asked the waiter to bring a few hats and introduce them one by one. "Not these!"

"What is the use of such a hat?" "Do you have a bearskin hat?"

"It's the kind that the silver-saddled warriors wear on their heads." The teenagers asked all over the place.

When the store owner heard this, he shook his head and said, "No."

"You don't even have a bearskin hat, how can you have the nerve to sell it?" A young man knocked on the table angrily and asked.

The store owner said helplessly: "I would like to teach you all, warriors, that our store only started selling fur goods a year ago. We sell more fur clothes, but eight out of ten are sheep fur. There are fewer hats. In our Youzhou territory, except for

Who among the Tibetan people wears fur hats? Furthermore, if they wear fur hats, they make them themselves and never come to the city to buy them. If it hadn’t been for the saint to start a trend, I wouldn’t have been able to sell many fur hats this year. Bearskin

Hat, haha, who will buy it?"

"You're a shabby shop, just close it."

"I'm going to burn this bird shop of yours tonight, so you don't have a bearskin hat." "It's too much, so I'll pour dung on it."

"Forget it, this store doesn't sell bearskin hats. It sells fake medicine all day long and will go out of business sooner or later."

"There is someone in our village who is over 60 years old. He bought fake medicine here and died that night after taking it. I haven't even settled the account with him yet."

The veins on the shopkeeper's forehead were exposed. He flicked his sleeves and ignored these people.

Liu Shoujing listened outside the door for a long time, and also burst into laughter.

At the same time, I also felt a little surprised. When I was studying and practicing martial arts in the palace, I didn't feel that. When I walked outside today, I found that the world was changing so fast.

The prestige of the saint is really nothing to say. Young men in Youzhou must have often heard stories of the saint's battles in recent years, right? He defeated the Khitan and conquered the Bohai Sea, and his illustrious martial arts, how can we not be fascinated by it?

Middle-aged people may not be so young, but passionate young men admire this kind of king with unparalleled martial arts. If it were an emperor with little achievements, would the bearskin hat still be so sought after?

Yin'anzhi, that is the personal army of the saint, represents the first-class strong soldiers of Daxia, and is the most desired place for all the young men who are skilled in bow and horse in Youzhou. The world has changed, and people's hearts have gradually changed.

The quarrel in the store was over, and the teenagers slammed the door and left one after another. Liu Shoujing noticed that the last person walked deliberately slowed down, turned back secretly, bought a package of medicine like a thief, hid it and trotted away.

.

"You also want to buy medicine?" The store owner looked Liu Shoujing up and down and advised: "I think you are full of energy and healthy. You are not like the person just now who was deficient in energy and blood. It's better not to use the tiger and wolf medicine.

, the more you use it, the more it becomes useless. It’s important to take care of your body.”

Liu Shoujing was not angry and said with a smile: "I don't want to buy medicine, I just want to ask something."

"Tell me." The shopkeeper was also bored, so he brought two horses over, gave one to Liu Shoujing, sat down and asked, "Is it easy to sell leather goods and herbs outside the wall?" Liu Shoujing thanked him and asked.

"This store was passed down from my ancestors. To be honest, it was not easy to sell in the past, but since last year, the business has suddenly improved." The store owner said: "It is true that leather goods are the best sellers, but it's a pity that I can't buy good goods."
To be continued...