Hou Chen noticed that Liu Yong and Liu Yu were observing the four-wheeled carriage and was also a little proud, "The eldest son and the third lady, but I think this four-wheeled carriage is very unique and novel? This is the creativity of the prince. Later, it was developed by a group of craftsmen from the Materials Official Academy. At present, the carriage can only be produced at the Xuzhou Grand Bus Square, and it is still in the use stage."

"Oh? Is it the prince's creativity?" Liu Yong and Liu Zi both showed a disbelief expression on their faces.

"Haha, the eldest son and the third lady are Hou gilded on the face of the prince? Does the prince still need to use this method to grow a face?" Hou Chen also laughed, "The eldest son and the third lady might as well go to the Materials Official Academy to ask those craftsmen. They will not gild for anyone. The prince's creativity is quite popular in the Materials Official Academy, and many craftsmen are flocking to it."

New words such as "creative" and "craftsman" are particularly novel in Liu Yong and Liu Yu's ears. Although they don't quite understand the true meaning of these words, they can also roughly guess some meanings from them.

"Mr. Hou, does 'creative' refer to a unique idea?" Liu Yu asked directly without as much concern as Liu Yong: "What is the identity of the 'craftsman'?"

"Well, the word 'creative' was also invented by the prince, which is similar to what the third lady thought. As for the word 'craftsman', according to the prince's explanation, it is probably craftsmen, artists, and high-level personnel who focus on the research and production of certain industries or objects. Well, there is another premise that they can all have unique development standards."

"Well, from Lord Hou's meaning, not everyone can afford this 'craftsman', and there are some conditions and standards?" Liu Xu was curious, "Is it the same as the magic?"

"It's similar, there are some standards, basically agreed upon by the prince and Lord Luo." Hou Chen didn't expect that the third lady was so interested in this.

In fact, when Liu Ju appeared, Hou Chen was already thinking about the purpose of the third lady coming. As a staff member of the Political Affairs Hall who specializes in external contacts, he had guessed some of the ideas from Nanyang.

Liu Ju is very likely to become the object of marriage between Nanyang and Xuzhou. Of course, Xuzhou is mostly the prince. Think about it, Xu Jing is already a magician among the prince's concubines. Now there is another Liu Ju who is interested in "craftsman", which is really too funny.

"I don't know how much the load and speed of this kind of carriage?" Liu Yong was more concerned about this.

For the army, transportation of baggage has always been the most important issue. The consumption of grain transportation alone is a huge problem. For example, when Emperor Wu of Han attacked the Huns, he said that one in ten grain and grass transportation was stored, and the others were consumed along the way, which shows that the consumption was huge.

Nowadays, if the army transports food and supplies in plains, most of them use large carts, namely ox carts, and there are also small number of horse carts to transport. However, if it is in mountainous hills and hills, the roads are not good, then it is mainly a mule and horse cart team. Judging from the carts that have begun to appear in Xuzhou City, the carrying capacity and speed are incomparable to those of the original carts.

Moreover, this kind of carriage can also be used in large quantities in civilian use. This effect is self-evident in plain areas, especially in areas with good conditions in official roads and post roads.

"It's not easy to say about the load capacity alone. It should be similar to ordinary horse-drawn carriages and ox carts. It depends on the bearing capacity of the wheels and axles. However, if a horse-cart cart is used, the road conditions can be adapted, and its speed will be greatly increased." Hou Chen said half-true and half-false.

Four-wheeled carriages are new things and are still in a state of further improvement. In addition to the key to steering devices, what is more important is to improve the spokes and axle material of the wheel spokes and axle. Specially processed stainless steel has been used in wheel axles, which greatly improves its durability. This is also the key to the large-scale promotion and use of such four-wheeled carriages. Otherwise, they will be damaged frequently and will not be able to be promoted.

However, there are still many areas that need improvement in this kind of carriage now, and the Skills and Materials Office is still improving many parts, but it also needs to be improved slowly during use.

Liu Yong and Liu Yu also noticed that the streets and roads in Xuzhou City were somewhat different from other places.

Other places, including Bianliang, Luoyang, and Chang'an, are mostly paved with stone slabs or bricks, but the roads paved with stone slabs and bricks are extremely expensive and costly. Except for only a few roads, most of the other streets and alleys can only be laid with mixed loess and sand and gravel and rolled, but this is easy to crush for heavy-loaded horse carriages and ox carriages.

Some streets in Xuzhou are different. They seem to be paved with a special material. They are hard and flat, like condensed river sand, which shocked Liu Yong and Liu Jue.

On this integrated street, ox and horse carriages are not only stable and fast, but also leave no marks, which is extremely convenient.

"Mr. Hou, what is this? Why is it so hard?" Liu Yu stepped on it and stomped it hard a few times. He found that it was indeed very hard. He asked in surprise: "Is it afraid of rain?"

"This is also the result of our Xuzhou Art and Law Institute, and it is also the idea proposed by the prince. Later, the results of the art and law institute are still in the trial stage, so there are only one or two streets in Xuzhou City that have been paved with this kind of mud and dust." Hou Chen proudly introduced: "Water and fire do not sink into it, and it is difficult to enter the sword and axe."

"Muhui?!" Liu Yong and Liu Su both remembered this word secretly, and Liu Su asked without hesitation: "Is this thing born or refined? How much does it cost?"

"It should be refined after birth." Hou Chen said vaguely, "What is refined specifically, but I don't know. All things in the tutorial court have secret rules and are not allowed to be leaked. As for the cost, I don't know, but I think I can use it to pave the road, so it shouldn't be too expensive."

Liu Yong and Liu Zi exchanged glances, which was reasonable. There was no reason why such a very likely big sale was stolen by others. For merchants, this is equivalent to the secret recipe of drugs. Of course, it is to keep your mouth shut and exclusive trading is best.

The two of them were not outside, but they just stepped on the mud and dusty ground and felt very flat and hard. They didn't know how much this thing cost. If it was cheap, once it was promoted, it would greatly improve the traffic conditions in the city. If it could be used in the wild, the significance would be even more immeasurable.

However, it can be guessed that this thing will definitely not be very expensive, otherwise it would be more cost-effective to use stone slabs to pave it.

Cement is indeed a new thing that has just been successfully developed and has not been used on a large scale. However, in Jiang Feng's view, this thing is of great value, especially its military use. Faced with the cavalry with strong mobility in field battles, how can the infantry rely on the city to defend, cement is a great help.

However, the quality of cement is still unstable, so it is still in the trial stage.

The emergence of these new things has greatly stimulated the desires of merchants, especially those Hu merchants, who are constantly being challenged by the bottom line. They did not expect that Xuzhou would have so many new things that could bring huge profits. Not to mention steel, just this mud, once the cost is reduced and promoted, building cities, houses, roads, and irrigation canals can be used. The amount of it is so large that it is simply unpredictable, and it is fascinating to think about it.

The group arrived at the inn and settled down for the time being, waiting for Jiang Feng to receive him.

Hou Chen and others said goodbye, saying that after reporting to the prince, they decided to meet, and came to report.

"Do you feel deeply, brother?" Liu Yu came to his elder brother's room, leaned against the windowsill, and asked casually.

"Well, we did underestimate the strength of Xuzhou. We know that the iron production has increased significantly, but the prosperity of Shouzhou is beyond our imagination." Liu Yong pondered: "This is all second-hand. The key is that there are endless new things coming out in Xuzhou. Their performance of the Arts and Materials Officials Academy is impressive. I didn't expect that Xuzhou will combine the arts and materials with the Arts and Materials Officials to make it so powerful."

"Yes, it's fine to produce iron. Brother, did you notice the carriage and mud?" Liu Zi's eyes flashed with luster. "The wheels and spokes of the carriage are made of iron. Well, it's stainless steel, and the axles are made of special stainless steel. Otherwise, they can't bear the load. I think the load capacity of the four-wheeled carriage is at least twice that of an ordinary car! That's fine, but if combined with the road paved with this mud, brother, think about it, what will this bring?"

Liu Yong nodded slightly, "The transportation speed of food, grass and supplies will be greatly improved, and the army's travel efficiency will be greatly improved. Battles in plains will make the infantry more effective, and the suppression of the cavalry will be greater,..."

"Not only that! Brother, you only see the military role, but not the benefits of the circulation of private trade." Liu Zuo shook his head repeatedly, "If the mud is really cheap and can be used on a large scale, then the communication between cities will be more convenient. Grain, tea, porcelain, cloth, iron, etc. can all flow quickly and on a large scale. The circulation of bulk materials on land is more advantageous in speed and the load is also improved. The northern plains have more advantages in speed for water transportation in the southern lake and swamp water network area, making up for the disadvantage of water transportation costs. This was originally a major strength in the south, but it has been weakened now."
Chapter completed!