Chapter 333

Chapter 333 Cement Road

Wei Yu had wanted to build roads for a long time.

No one who comes from a country known as the infrastructure maniac can ever refuse to build roads, really!

Once the roads are built, transportation becomes convenient, and even the vehicles can be upgraded. For example, having the Research Institute develop bicycles wouldn’t be a problem, right?

Smooth roads make travel easy for the people, and facilitate the movement of the military. In case of natural disasters or emergencies, rescue can be more timely!

Wei Yu truly did not want to go traveling and have to walk on muddy roads anymore. The roads were so bad that even riding in a carriage would make him vomit from the bumps.

“Dad, building roads is absolutely necessary! For the future, we absolutely cannot slack off!”

Considering how stingy his dad was, Wei Yu counted the benefits of building roads on his fingers as he explained to him.

“First, building roads promotes the development of transportation. A good road can improve transportation efficiency, shorten transport times, reduce costs, and also promote regional economic development and exchange!”

“Second, building roads improves traffic safety. Some originally narrow and rugged roads can be transformed to be smoother and wider, which reduces accidents and protects the people’s lives and property!”

“Third, building roads improves people’s lives. Whether roads are smooth directly affects people’s travel and living quality. Building roads makes travel easier, broadens people’s horizons, and improves their living standards!”

“Lastly, building roads can improve environmental quality. Some old roads were poorly constructed, but after renovation can enhance drainage, improve the surrounding environment, and prevent pollution!”

This felt like answering a politics question on the college entrance exam, and as Wei Yu spoke, he even felt a bit dazed, somewhat emotional.

Emperor Wei listened for a while, his hand restraining the ledger book twitched slightly.

He was tempted.

A bit tempted by his son.

Although what this unfilial son said was somewhat hard to understand, with some thought he could roughly grasp the meaning.

Emperor Wei was used to Wei Yu’s speaking style; usually, the more this guy talked, the bigger the thing he was about to do — whether it be in determination, benefits, or costs.

And that always made Emperor Wei feel particularly heartache.

The ledger he held seemed to ache for no reason; Emperor Wei was very distressed.

He had only just grabbed it, hadn’t even seen any silver yet, and now it’s about to fly out the door…

Emperor Wei gave Wei Yu a sidelong glance.

“Is it really necessary?”

Wei Yu’s gaze was sharp.

“Absolutely must!”

Emperor Wei reluctantly said,

“Can we do it later?”

Wei Yu seriously refused,

“No later at all!”

“Sigh—” Emperor Wei sighed gloomily, “The people suffer, yes, the roads must be built, I’m not unwilling, but I keep thinking we should take it slowly…”

Though verbally he said okay, his paw pressing down on the ledger wouldn’t relax.

Wei Yu glanced over and instinctively grabbed his dad’s fingers and tried to calm him down.

“Yes, yes, yes, Dad, you are right. Building roads is just a small amount of money; wealth is external to us. We don’t have to be so petty. It’s good to spend money on some meaningful things. The money will come back eventually!”

Emperor Wei: …

“You little rascal!”

The force with which the rascal grabbed his hand was no joke at all. This direct approach to snatching his silver made Emperor Wei so angry that he grabbed an imperial memorial and started banging it on Wei Yu’s head.

Bam bam bam, banging hard.

“Ow, ow, please be gentler!”

The old man’s strength was not light either. Wei Yu felt like his crown might get cracked open.

But he didn’t dodge.

If he was going to snatch money, it had to be pried out of his dad’s dragon mouth directly. If he didn’t let his dad vent, what if his dad secretly did things behind his back? That would be bad!

Wei Yu would rather take the beating than give his dad a chance to deceive him!

“You little rascal, you rascal! I was still making plans and you dare snatch it from me? You wicked unfilial son!”

“Ah, ah ah— it hurts, Dad! Please be gentle… loosen your hands, huh? Ah?”

After beating him for a while, the father and son finally quieted down.

Emperor Wei sat upright in his seat, arms crossed, his face showing no worldly desire whatsoever.

Wei Yu sat on the ground holding the ledger, scratching his head.

It hurt, it really hurt!

Wei Yu scratched his now-numb scalp and mumbled, “Anyway, this road must be built no matter what. No matter how much you hit me, it’s useless.”

He wasn’t just going to snatch money this time, but next time, and the time after that, and the time after that too!

Would building one road cost only a few million taels? It would take seven, eight, eleven or twenty times at least!

His dad feels hurts now, but what about after that?

He was helping his dad desensitize himself.

Emperor Wei heard this in his heart: …

This time he really had no worldly desire at all.

Actually, Emperor Wei wasn’t that stingy, really. It wasn’t that the national treasury was so poor, it was just a habit to pinch money from Wei Yu… Not pinching some money in front of Wei Yu made him uncomfortable.

Hmm… it did feel a bit shameless.

Enough with the unserious chat; now it was time to talk seriously.

Emperor Wei asked Wei Yu, “How do you plan to build the road?”

Nowadays, besides tamping earth to compact the soil, there are basically three ways.

One is to use cooked earth — the soil is burned with fire to kill bugs and grass to ensure soil quality. Another is to use earthen tiles made from yellow earth; very hard, perfectly suitable for daily use in ancient times without heavy vehicles. Lastly, stone — in palaces and many wealthy families, floors were often paved with marble slabs, polished smooth and flat.

Of course, this was just road building. For building city walls, they used a mixture made from lime, yellow earth, and sand. Many brick and stone buildings used sticky yellow earth mortar for construction.

This kind of mortar technology is actually quite similar in materials to cement.

When his dad asked, Wei Yu sat up holding his head.

“Of course, we build cement roads.”

Knowing his dad didn’t understand what cement was, Wei Yu naturally began to tell him about the materials craftsmen now use for building pillars, foundations, roofs, and the differences between cement and modern mortar.

The differences were minor.

Simply put, mortar is a mixture of water, lime, and sand; cement is produced by mixing limestone and clay. It’s not difficult to make.

If you want cement to be stronger, you just add some chemicals.

That kind of thing can be handled by the alchemists at the Research Institute. Wei Yu believed they could develop the best type.

Emperor Wei thought for a moment after hearing this.

“Only building roads, not city walls?”

Wei Yu’s eyes lit up, “Of course we build city walls! If we can build, it’s best to build!”

He wished he could build roads today, houses tomorrow, and bridges the day after!

Emperor Wei was stunned but looked at him deeply.

“… I’m just saying that for now.”

If the roads aren’t built yet, where will the money for city walls come from!