"Oh? Lord Grandson, please speak! Although he hated this yin man very much, Li Su had to take the other party's questioning. Li Shimin and civil and military officials also looked at the two.

"This cement is indeed wonderful, but I don't know how much it costs?" The eldest grandson Wuji smiled slightly, and immediately asked the key. Li Shimin and the others, who were still excited just now, also calmed down, and looked at Li Su with a nervous face, this cement is good, but good things are generally very expensive, if the cost of cement is too high, then it will outweigh the loss.

Li Su smiled slightly, as a later generation, how could he not know the importance of the cost performance of goods, although he did not understand the materials and labor costs of cement, but Bai Qing, the principal, was clear, so Li Su beckoned to Bai Qing, and then said: "The eldest grandson asked the deep reason for the road construction in Chapter 37, although the firing method of cement is provided by me, but the specific operation is done by Bai Zhicheng, so he will introduce it to you." Kong Yingda and others were hesitant when they heard that cement was invented by Li Su, no wonder Li Su was responsible for this matter.

Bai Qing's excited legs were trembling, trembling and walking to the middle of the field, saluting Li Shimin and the hundred officials: "I will be the supervisor Bai Qing, long live my emperor, see all my lords." ”

"Hurry up, how much does this cement cost?" Li Shimin asked a little eagerly.

"Your Majesty, the materials used in this cement are very ordinary, and the price is very cheap, but it costs charcoal when calcining, and it consumes all the fuel." When saying this, Bai Qing pointed to the standing cement slab, "For example, this cement slab, the cement used plus sand and gravel, the cost is about fifteen yuan." ”

"Fifteen?" Li Shimin frowned, this price is not low, you must know that the current price of grain is only five cents a bucket, if you want to build a cement road from Chang'an to Luoyang, it is estimated that it will cost at least four or five million yuan! And Datang's tax revenue is only how much a year, and the construction of a few cement roads is all gone.

Chapter 37 The Deep Reason for Building the Road "Father, Bai Zhicheng is only talking about the current cost, if the large-scale firing of cement in the future, the cost can be further reduced, and the son is estimated that it will definitely not exceed ten Wen, and with the improvement of the process in the future, the price still has room to fall." Li Su stepped forward and assured, and his words were immediately agreed by Bai Qing.

"If the price can be pressed below ten yuan, even if my Datang is desperately short, I will build the road, this is a holy act to ensure the eternal survival of my Datang!" When Fang Xuanling heard this, he couldn't hold back anymore, and stood up and said excitedly.

Hearing Fang Xuanling's words, many long-term officials also agreed, and stepped forward to ask Li Shimin to issue an order that the Ministry of Industry should be responsible for expanding cement production. Some cautious ministers did not object, but only suggested that a few roads could be built on a trial basis to see the results, and if feasible, it would not be too late to build them on a large scale.

Li Shimin was also very embarrassed, the treasury was not very rich, and he had always wanted to find an opportunity to conquer Goguryeo, and the Tibetan side was not very peaceful, and a big war would break out at any time. How could he fail to see the importance of the road? But if Datang fights to build roads with a deficit for a few years, it will not be able to do anything at that time, and Datang will also take a defensive position externally, which is indeed a very painful thing for an extremely ambitious emperor.

After thinking about it for a long time, Li Shimin didn't make up his mind, and finally just said: "Cement production must be expanded, and roads must be repaired, but the cost is still too great, Rong Zhen will think about it for a few days!" ”

After Li Shimin finished speaking, he dispersed the court directly, and this time he didn't ask anyone to stay, and went straight back to the palace by royal car. The civil and military officials below also dispersed, but some curious people were reluctant to leave, and they surrounded the cement workshop to see the cement production process, but for reasons of confidentiality, they were all invited out by Li Su.

Ordinary officials are also easy to do, Li Su stepped forward and said that people would go out, and some even didn't need Li Su to invite him personally, and when he heard that the cement workshop was to be kept secret, he immediately went out very consciously. However, not everyone has this kind of look, and what is surprising is that this person is not a splash like Cheng Yanjin, but a three-grade civil official in purple clothes.

Li Su had noticed this person from the beginning, and he also knew the other party, but because of the situation, he was embarrassed to go up and drive people away. I thought that with the identity of this person, I would consciously leave when I saw that I was driving people here, but what I didn't expect was that until the other officials left the cement workshop, this person still stood there with a smile.

Li Su was helpless, so he could only step forward and bow to the ground, and then said, "Little nephew, see Uncle Fang!" "Don't look at Li Xuangui as the prince, but Fang Xuanling is an old man who fights the world with Li Shimin, and in private Li Shimin is friends with their peers, so as long as it is not a formal occasion, Li Xuan calls Fang Xuanling and these old ministers as elders.

"Hehe, Liuyun is here to drive the old man out?" Fang Xuanling said with a smile.

Li Su slandered in his heart, since you know everything, why are you still so uninteresting? But these can only be thought about in his heart, and he doesn't dare to say it to his face.

"Uncle Fang's words are serious, of course this place is confidential to others, but of course it is not necessary for your old man." Li smiled inappropriately.

"Okay, His Royal Highness King Liang won't play those little tricks of yours in front of me." Li Su's little bit of caution, how could he hide the eyes of an old fox in officialdom? The reason why he stayed here was, of course, that he had something to look for him, and Li Su also vaguely guessed this.

Fang Xuanling pondered for a moment, and then said. "What does His Royal Highness King Liang think about the road construction?"

Li Xuan was stunned, he didn't expect Fang Xuanling to stay and ask about road repair, this is not the same nature as cement, cement is just a new thing for the benefit of the country and the people, he only has merit and no past, but road construction is different, this is related to the political affairs of the Tang Dynasty, he, the prince, can not discuss the government without Li Shimin's permission. Fang Xuanling has been rolling in the court for so many years, and he won't even know this, so what does he mean by asking himself?

Li Xuan couldn't guess what Fang Xuanling's idea was for a while, but fortunately he reacted quickly, and he was stunned for a moment and hurriedly smiled: "Uncle Fang, you are asking the wrong person, I am an idle person, where do I know about the court?" ”

Fang Xuanling's blazing eyes have been observing Li Su's every move, and seeing Li Su's reaction so quickly, he also secretly appreciates it in his heart. As the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, the art of observing people is the basis for officials, since the last primary school Li Su memorized the three-character scripture, Fang Xuanling has noticed Li Su, after this period of direct or indirect contact, Fang Xuanling can conclude that among the sons of Taizong, if you talk about talent and intelligence, almost no one can match Li Su.

It's a pity that Li Su and Li Ke, the two most outstanding princes, have the royal blood of the two dynasties flowing on their bodies, which dooms them to the throne of the Tang Dynasty! Fang Xuanling thought of this, and sighed secretly in his heart, although Li Shimin was still young, and the prince was selected early, but the performance of the prince in recent years has made many ministers dissatisfied, and Li Shimin also moved the idea of easy storage in his heart, Fang Xuanling, as one of the most important advisers under Li Shimin, of course he was also worried about this problem.

Thinking of these troubles, Fang Xuanling was a little depressed, and he had no intention of going around in circles with Li Su again, so he got straight to the point: "Liulang, this time I have something important to discuss with you, and you don't have so much to think about, just say what you think, you call me uncle, then the old man will sell an old man today, let's talk about the elders and the juniors, what do you think?" ”

Having said that, what else can Li Xuan say, and he has no grudges with Fang Xuanling, and as the first person in the dynasty, he also used some conspiracy to play on himself, so Li Su stopped playing haha, and turned to say with a straight face: "Since my uncle said so, then the kid will talk about his shallow opinion." ”

Li Su paused when he said this, and watched Fang Xuanling listen carefully, so he continued: "Of course, building a road is a hundred-year plan, and the importance of the road is not much to say, with my uncle's many years of experience as an official, I think I must see it more clearly than anyone else's, so I think that this road must be repaired, but this road can not be repaired in a day or two, so you can't rush it, you can build a few main roads in Jiannan or other important places, and then build it on a large scale when the time is ripe." ”

Li Xuanling's words were very tactful, just now Fang Xuanling was very enthusiastic about building roads, and his attitude was also very radical, and he even said that he would build the road even if he had a deficit for a few years. Of course, Li Su is a little strange, it is said that with Fang Xuanling's stability, he should not be so radical, and what is even more strange is that his statement has been supported by many people.

"Hehe, it seems that the virtuous nephew thinks the old man is too radical, right?" Of course, Fang Xuanling heard Li Su's words, but he was not angry at all, but said with a smile.

"Little nephew doesn't dare!" Li Su hurriedly bowed down and saluted, although he didn't dare, but the meaning was just the opposite.

"Alas! In fact, the old man didn't know that this matter was in a hurry, but for the sake of my Datang Sheji, I had to be in a hurry! Fang Xuanling suddenly sighed and said something that shocked Li Su.

"What did Uncle say about this?" After Li Su was shocked, he was confused, now is the tenth year of Zhenguan, it is the time when the country is strong and prosperous, and it is even called 'the rule of Zhenguan' by later generations, it is one of the famous prosperous times in history, and I have not heard of anything in history that can threaten the Jiangshan Sheji of the Tang Dynasty?

"Does Rokuro know His Majesty's aspirations?" Fang Xuanling didn't answer Li Su's question, but instead asked another question that made Li Su scratch his head.

"This ......" Li Yu hesitated for a moment, and he suddenly found that although he was Li Shimin's son, if he understood Li Shimin, he was really not as good as Fang Xuanling, after all, he was the number one minister under the emperor's father, and he hadn't seen Li Shimin for ten days and a half months, and Fang Xuanling was with him almost every day.

"Your Majesty is a generation of heroes, and it is not inferior to the Qin Emperor and Han Wu!" Fang Xuanling said this, his tone turned high-pitched, "His greatest wish is to sweep away all the strong enemies around the Tang Dynasty in his lifetime, and leave a peaceful and prosperous era for you descendants, now the Turks have been wiped out, the northern grasslands are in chaos, Tuyuhun has also been pacified, only Goguryeo in the southeast has not been conquered, although Tubo has become stronger and stronger in the past two years, but in the heart of His Majesty Taizong, the most wanted to conquer is Goguryeo, when Goguryeo took advantage of the civil strife in the Central Plains and occupied Liaodong, the former Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty made several expeditions, but they were all in vain, On the contrary, hundreds of thousands of great Han Erlang died in Liaodong, and every time he talked about this, His Majesty sighed for it......"

Fang Xuanling is worthy of being the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, and he is very clear about Li Shimin's thoughts, and under his explanation, Li Xuan also understands the reason why Fang Xuanling desperately wants to build the road. It turned out that during this period of time, there was no strong enemy outside the Tang Dynasty, and the country was also very stable, Li Shimin also moved the mind of conquering Goguryeo, although Fang Xuanling and Li Jing were all opposed, but they could not change the decision made by Li Shimin.

Just when Fang Xuanling felt that there was nothing to be done, Li Xuan suddenly invented cement, which made Fang Xuanling have an idea, thinking that if the national roads were built on a large scale, it would definitely cost a lot of money, even the treasury of the Tang Dynasty could not take out excess money and grain to support a large-scale campaign, which could not only greatly improve the traffic situation of the Tang Dynasty, but also delay the time to conquer Goguryeo, which could be described as killing two birds with one stone. After all, road construction is not something that can be completed in a year or two, plus the time to accumulate strength after building roads, this seven or eight years will have passed, and maybe Li Shimin has changed his mind by then. It was precisely because of this intention that he was so enthusiastic about building roads.

Politics is indeed the most complicated thing in the world, and there is no simple person in politics! After listening to Fang Xuanling's explanation, Li Xuan couldn't help but lament in his heart, it was originally a very simple matter, but once it came to the hands of Fang Xuanling and these people, it became extremely complicated, who would have thought that building a road would involve the conquest of Goguryeo?!!!