Chapter 47: A progress beyond imagination

The military weapon supervisor of the Tang Dynasty was responsible for producing equipment for the army. The military weapon supervisor of Chang'an is now the "headquarters" and has "branches" in important cities. Longxi has very important significance in terms of history and strategic status. It was once the forefront of defending Tubo. At the same time, the troops going to the Western Regions had to pass by here and bear the important task of replenishing the military of the Western Regions. Therefore, the military weapon supervisor of the Tang Dynasty in Longxi was relatively large in scale and had a large number of personnel.

Chen Wanrong rushed to the military weapon surveillance and saw that the military weapon surveillance was quite large. Although it was worse than Chang'an's, it was already very good as a branch. He flew off his horse and came to the front of the door. The soldier guarding the door said, "Please report it to me, and I'll tell you Chen Wanrong to come to see all the masters."

"Are you General Chen?" The soldier was a little surprised and stopped looking at Chen Wanrong.

Chen Wanrong is famous all over the world. Who doesn't know that he is the head of the military weapon supervisor? The soldier thought of meeting the almost legendary Chen Wanrong, his eyes wider than cow's eyes.

"If you want to change it if you have a fake one!" Chen Wanrong was very sure.

"General Chen, please wait." The soldier slapped his forehead and said, "Oh, look at what I said, how can I let General Chen wait? General Chen, please, please, please come in!"

Originally, he did it according to the old rules and wanted Chen Wanrong to wait outside, so he reported it. Then he thought that Chen Wanrong was the head of the military weapon supervisor, and it was not good to do this, so he changed his words.

Chen Wanrong also wanted to see Zhang Deming and Cao Zhixiong and others earlier, and he was not polite, so he threw the reins to a soldier and strode in. The soldier hurriedly followed him in and wanted to report.

Chen Wanrong didn't stop him and let him do his job. With just one breath, the soldiers turned around and a few people followed him. When Chen Wanrong saw that Cao Zhixiong was there.

"General Chen!" Cao Zhixiong was very happy and rushed up like a flying man, giving Chen Wanrong a bear hug, and smiled: "General Chen, what wind has blown you here? It's really unexpected! I really unexpected!"

After not seeing him for several months, I really miss him a little. Chen Wanrong patted him on his back and asked, "Master Cao, I'm here without invitation today. Do you welcome me?"

"Not welcome!" Cao Zhixiong's answer was surprising, and he continued to say: "You are in charge of military weapons, how can I welcome it? You are going home!"

Everyone laughed loudly when they said something. The people who came with him were all good craftsmen and the person in charge of the Longxi Army Weapon Supervisor. They had heard Cao Zhixiong and Zhang Deming talk about Chen Wanrong long ago, and they wanted to meet him long ago. Today they got what they wanted, and they were all happy. They surrounded Chen Wanrong in the middle and kept looking at him.

"Why do you always look at me? Is Master Cao saying bad things about me?" Chen Wanrong joked.

Cao Zhixiong hurriedly argued: "General Chen, don't talk nonsense, how can I say bad things about you!"

"As you mean, is Master Zhang talking bad about me?" Chen Wanrong was in a very good mood, and there were many jokes: "Master Cao, it's not good to talk about people behind his back!"

Cao Zhixiong said seriously: "General Chen, you are judging a gentleman with the heart of a villain. How can we say bad things about you? Just say good things!"

"You said nice things, aren't you saying to yourself that I'm a villain?" Chen Wanrong pointed at Cao Zhixiong with a serious look on his face.

Just now, there was indeed a grammatical problem with these words. Cao Zhixiong froze and everyone burst into laughter.

"Just laugh with you, don't take it seriously!" Chen Wanrong met everyone. After seeing the ceremony one by one, Cao Zhixiong and others invited Chen Wanrong into the house to serve tea. Chen Wanrong was not in the mood and said, "I am here this time, not to eat your tea, but to see your progress. How is the cement made? Where is Master Zhang? Why don't you see anyone?"

"You have too many questions, which one will we answer?" Cao Zhixiong took the conversation and said leisurely: "Guess, are our situation good?"

Chen Wanrong said with a serious look on his face: "Your report is very good, I really want to see it. The alias is not true."

Cao Zhixiong was a little annoyed: "General Chen, you can't trust us? This matter is of great importance. We just want to lie, but we don't have the courage. Once something happens, our heads can't fill the hole."

Once cement is out, it will be built to the Western Regions. Once it is built to the Western Regions, it will change the world pattern and rewrite world history. The great relationship is that all the words cannot be explained. Chen Wanrong believes that he is telling the truth: "I believe in you, but I still want to see it."

"I know you are anxious, come with us!" Cao Zhixiong took Chen Wanrong's hand and said, "Master Zhang is rushing to make equipment. I am not lazy and are training personnel. As soon as you come, you will disturb us."

He was joking, and Chen Wanrong was very energetic: "Are you cultivating personnel? That's great! I have to go and have a look!"

"Okay! Let's go!" Cao Zhixiong led the way in front, and Chen Wanrong followed him. When he arrived at a room, Cao Zhixiong pointed and said, "It's here." He got in.

Chen Wanrong followed him in. After a look, he saw nearly 300 people in the room, whispering and talking, and there was a loud buzzing sound in the room. Seeing Cao Zhixiong coming in, everyone hurriedly stopped and looked at Cao Zhixiong.

"I just had something to do, I want you to discuss it. How are you discussing it?" Cao Zhixiong did not wait for them to speak, and then said, "Tell you a huge news. This is General Chen Wanrong, the head of our military weapon supervisor."

"Ah! Is it General Chen?" Everyone looked surprised, and then they couldn't help but feel joy. They couldn't help but stand up and salute Chen Wanrong: "I've seen General Chen!"

Chen Wanrong held his fists and replied, "Please exempt everyone! Chen Wanrong has met you!"

"Please tell us a few words, okay?" Cao Zhixiong asked an obvious question.

Who can say bad? Everyone shouted in unison: "Okay!"

Chen Wanrong had to deal with it and said, "I'm short of time and can't examine you, but I believe you must be great! Because you are the pride of the military weapon supervisor! You are already great, I believe you will definitely be even better!"

"Thank you General Chen for high expectations! We will definitely work hard!" Everyone answered in unison.

Chen Wanrong nodded and said, "You guys are busy, I'll go to another place to take a look."

"General Chen, please say a few more words!" Everyone was very satisfied.

"I'll come to see you when I have time." Chen Wanrong believed that Cao Zhixiong would train them well, so he didn't have to spend too much time here and said, "Master Cao, let's go and see Master Zhang."

"Okay!" Cao Zhixiong agreed readily, leading the way in front. He walked side by side with Chen Wanrong and said in a low voice: "Don't look at Master Zhang as a country blacksmith, he really has a lot of skills in doing things. He has obtained the true teachings of Master Ye, so the equipment he makes is so good."

Although Zhang Deming is a country blacksmith, he is serious and persevering in his work. He can use three points of effort to do what others spend a little time. More importantly, he likes to think and always has some unexpected ideas.

"If it weren't for this, how could Master Ye accept him as his disciple?" Chen Wanrong had absolute trust in Zhang Deming.

Cao Zhixiong agreed with this: "It's good for those who can get Master Ye to be accepted as their disciple!"

After walking in for a while, I saw a familiar figure, Zhang Deming, who kept walking around and instructing the craftsmen to do things very seriously.

"Master Zhang, who are you here?" Cao Zhixiong shouted from afar.

Zhang Deming turned around when he heard the sound, looked overjoyed, rushed up like flying, and opened his arms from afar, shouting excitedly: "General Chen, it's you! How did you come?"

Chen Wanrong was also happy, and hugged Zhang Deming with open arms, patted Zhang Deming on his back, and smiled and said, "Master Zhang, Master Cao said you don't do serious business all day long and just care about being lazy. I'll come and have a look."

"What? Master Cao said bad things about me?" Zhang Deming's eyes rolled and he looked at Cao Zhixiong with annoyance.

Cao Zhixiong complained: "General Chen, don't talk nonsense. How could I say this? Am I that bad?"

Chen Wanrong was joking and said without comment: "Who can tell clearly when the heart is separated from the belly?"

Cao Zhixiong stomped his feet and wanted to argue. Zhang Deming laughed and slapped Chen Wanrong on his shoulder: "General Chen, you are really good at joking. He actually made fun of Master Cao."

"Master Zhang will understand me!" Cao Zhixiong proudly raised his chest to Chen Wanrong.

Chen Wanrong flashed at him and asked, "Master Zhang, how is your work here going?"

Before Zhang Deming could speak, Cao Zhixiong blinked at him. Zhang Deming immediately changed his words, "Well, we don't count. General Chen, you can understand by yourself." Having said that, there was a happier look on his face.

Chen Wanrong saw it: "I know if you don't say it, it should be good, otherwise your face wouldn't be like this. Let's go and take a look."

Regardless of their reaction, they looked straight at the equipment they were working on. After a while of looking, they had to say that their equipment was well done and was not inferior to Chang'an's cement equipment.

"It's not bad, how much cement has been produced?" Chen Wanrong asked the most important question.

"Guess!" Zhang Deming and Cao Zhixiong seemed to be wearing crotch pants this time, and they actually spoke in unison.

Chen Wanrong shook his head and said, "I can't guess. This matter is of great importance. The emperor is planning to build the road to the Western Regions within one year. Whether it can be completed depends entirely on how you are doing."

Cao Zhixiong's smile was calmed and he said with a serious face: "Before the New Year, we rushed to Longxi and told the situation, the masters decided to work day and night. They gave up the annual leave, and even the New Year, they were still busy day and night."

Chen Wanrong was very moved and bowed to the craftsmen and said, "Thank you!"

"General Chen, this is what we should do! We have no choice but to do our best to the court!" The craftsmen said in unison.

Cao Zhixiong continued: "After working hard, we have built several production lines now and are operating well. The road to the Western Regions has been built for dozens of miles. We discussed that we should build more cement equipment and more production lines, and the road to the Western Regions will be completed as scheduled!"

The tone was calm, but full of confidence. Chen Wanrong did not dare to have any doubts and said excitedly: "Then I must go and see your achievements. Where is the workshop built?"

According to Chen Wanrong's estimate, even if Zhang Deming and others work overtime, they will have to go until March this year to produce cement. Not long after March, they not only produced cement, but also built dozens of miles, which far exceeded expectations. Chen Wanrong was extremely excited.

"Okay!" Zhang Deming and Cao Zhixiong happily took the order and surrounded Chen Wanrong from left to right and said, "General Chen, please come here!"

Chen Wanrong asked while walking, "When did the road construction start?" When Chen Wanrong led his army to leave Chang'an, he had not received any report on their road construction.

Zhang Deming and Cao Zhixiong looked at each other and said, "We only took a month to make the first production line, and it was OK after trying it. From then on, the road could be built, but the season was too cold and it was impossible to repair it. It was not until late February that the weather warmed up and the civilians were dispatched to build the road."

"At the end of February, it's only a few days to build dozens of miles?" Chen Wanrong was a little unbelievable.

Cao Zhixiong explained: "General Chen, even if we can't build, we can't be idle, right? After we made the cement, we dispatched people to make cement blocks. At the beginning, we didn't have much cement and we made limited. Later, more and more cement was produced, and there were a lot of cement blocks. When the weather was right, we just needed to organize the roadbed, pull the cement blocks over and lay them, and then apply cement. Isn't this road done?"

Without modern construction equipment in the Tang Dynasty, it was impossible to build cement blocks like in modern society. Another reason for this is that there is too much temperature difference in the Western Regions, which can solve the problem of thermal expansion and contraction.

Zhang Deming took over the conversation: "We have stored cement blocks for a month or two, so the construction will naturally be faster."

"General Chen, don't worry, the progress will be faster in the future, because we will have more and more cement and more experienced people!" Cao Zhixiong was full of confidence.

Just as he was talking, he had already arrived at the cement production workshop. Chen Wanrong looked around and couldn't see it. He couldn't help but be surprised: "How many production lines have you built?"

Zhang and Cao were very happy and raised their heads and said, "Guess."

Seeing the two of them in their eyes, Chen Wanrong understood that it would definitely not be less, and he also said happily: "Not hundreds, right?"

"How could it be so fast!" Cao Zhixiong shook his head and said, "So far, we have only built more than twenty. More than twenty are too few, which is not enough. We discussed and prepared to build hundreds of them. If those who go to the Western Regions are repaired, wouldn't they still have to go to Tubo? If the roads to Tubo are repaired, cement can also be used to build houses. In a word, there are more places that require cement, even if there are a thousand production lines, it will take hundreds of years to be built, and there will not be many."

They really have ambitions!

Chen Wanrong agreed with their idea: "Cement is very useful, the more the better. However, it cannot be fully built here! You have built so many workshops, just thinking about doing them all here in the future, right?"

"That's what it means!" Zhang Deming nodded.

Chen Wanrong frowned and asked, "How many production lines can be built in the workshop here?"

"Thirty or four hundred!" Cao Zhixiong pointed to the distance and said, "This riverside will become our workshop in the future. We will use so many things to repair first, and the future will depend on the situation."

Chen Wanrong thought for a while and said, "Let's build so much here first! The road to the Western Regions will be further and further. When the conditions are ripe, we will divide the group into Kucha Town and build a workshop there."

The Tang army was about to advance westward on a large scale, and a war with the Dashi Empire was about to break out. Chen Wanrong had absolute confidence that he would definitely defeat the Dashi Empire and promote Chinese civilization to the Wuji place. Then, the road connecting the Western Regions was particularly important. It was not only necessary to build the town of Kucha, but also to go west, to Samarkand, to Baghdad, to Damascus, and to Cairo.

Without a smooth road, the Tang Dynasty's control over the Middle East would be much weaker. With such a major transportation artery, under the influence of Chinese civilization, the Middle East would be included in the Chinese civilization circle and become a part of China a hundred years later.

World history will change as a result! This is a grand goal!

Correspondingly, there will be a lot of cement required! It cannot be built only in Longxi, but also in the Western Regions, Central Asia, and the Middle East. It is wise to use the manpower and material resources there to complete this.

Of course, these ideas cannot be told to Zhang Deming and others, because it is still confidential.
To be continued...