Chapter 956: High-Standard Roads

Zao's mouth hung open in shock, his eyes darting back and forth between Baifeng and Baoxi, as if he found this news completely unbelievable. How long had he been away from Huaxia City, and yet such a thing had happened? Could it be that while Huaxia was on the way to attacking the Shennong Clan, they had also attacked the Suiren Clan in passing?

Sanxin walked over and patted Zao on the shoulder to try and explain, but as soon as he patted him, a cloud of dust immediately rose up. Sanxin had to quickly wave it away: "Oh, Zao, why don't you just put that aside for now? I'll tell you about it slowly later. If you have any questions, just say them quickly. Seeing you arrive so travel-worn, there must be some very urgent matter, right? And why didn't we see any carrier pigeons?"

Zao spread his hands, too agitated to know where to begin. Baifeng told him to sit down first and speak slowly, and Baoxi kindly pulled out a chair next to him for him.

Zao nodded at Baoxi with an awkward smile, then sat down: "King, it's not really a big deal, it's just that I feel it's quite important. I couldn't explain it clearly in a letter, so I had to come and say it myself, and I also need to hear your opinion."

Baifeng raised his hand, signaling for Zao to continue.

"It's just that, King, while we were building the road, I invented a Bulldozer and improved the process a bit. It's already in normal use now, and the others in the Ministry of Works have no objections."

Baifeng was puzzled: "Isn't that a good thing? You've already put it into use. As long as practice proves there are no problems, the credit due to you certainly won't be lacking. What is there to worry about?"

Zao was somewhat urgent: "No, King, it's about later. I believe that if we want our roads to be more sturdy and durable, the construction procedure still needs to be improved further. The roads built with the current method can only be called passable, but if they encounter heavy rain or something, they are easily washed away, and then they have to be rebuilt."

Baoxi asked from the side: "Roads? Are they the same as these roads in Huaxia City? Where are you building them now? I think these roads are already good enough; they are as hard as stone."

Zao looked at Baifeng with some hesitation. Baifeng slapped the table: "Speak if you have something to say. I've already said that Baoxi is one of us now, he is a Huaxia person, don't keep being so hesitant."

Zao had no choice but to answer Baoxi's question first: "It's not this kind of Cement Road, it's just a dirt road, but it needs to be built flat enough and wide enough. The place is very far away, way out in the far west."

Baoxi asked again, puzzled: "Then why not build them like this? Like this Cement Road? Isn't it better than a dirt road?"

"Sigh, we want to, but for such a long road, building it with Cement, the cost is just too high. We couldn't possibly do it. Just the Cement used for building houses isn't enough, so it's even more impossible for road building. We can only see if we can use Cement for shorter, more important roads."

"After all, it is not easy to produce Cement."

Baoxi knew he had reached the limit of what he could understand. He didn't know how Cement was made, and he had never seen the original form of Cement, so he naturally stopped asking. He didn't want to delay Zao from talking about the main business.

"Oh, I see. Then continue."

Now Zao was stuck again. He didn't know where he had left off. He scratched his head, letting a few grains of dirt fall onto the table before continuing: "I was thinking that since the current roads are easily damaged, I thought that when we build roads, we should first dig away the top layer of loose soil, then lay a layer of large stones. On top of the large stones, we lay small pebbles, fill it with a layer of soil, and on the very top, we use Lime and burnt soil as the road surface."

"This way, not only is it not easy for Grass to grow, but it will also be much harder. Even if a flood washes the road away, it will only wash away the top layer. If the stone roadbed underneath remains, it will be much easier for us to repair."

Everyone was thinking about the feasibility, while Zao stared intently at Baifeng, because the final decision-making power here lay in Baifeng's hands.

Baifeng listened to the plan Zao described; it was exactly like the Qin Straight Road. It was clear that such a method was entirely feasible, but under the current circumstances, could Huaxia support the construction of such roads?

"What do the others in the Ministry of Works think of your plan?"

Zao hurriedly answered Baifeng: "They agree with my plan, but they don't think it can be implemented now because they feel the cost is too high and it would consume a massive amount of construction time. The most important thing now is to open up the road between us and the Western Development Group. As long as we open up this road first, that's enough."

Baifeng asked Zao in return: "Then do you think your plan is feasible? How much would it affect the construction time and progress?"

Hearing Baifeng's tone, Zao knew the possibility of implementing this plan was already slim, but he still insisted: "I think the plan is fine. As for the construction speed, I think it might, it might be at least half as slow. After all, finding stones, transporting stones, and laying them are all very time-consuming."

Baifeng didn't speak and was still thinking. The others were thinking as well, but they were all waiting for Baifeng to make the final decision.

Baifeng's hand left his chin, and he slapped the table to reach a conclusion: "Zao, our primary task now is still to open up the road. This is the most important thing. No matter how bad a road is, it is still a road. This is our main means of connecting with the Western Development Group."

"Therefore, I believe your plan cannot be fully implemented for the time being."

Upon hearing this, Zao immediately lowered his head, like a deflated ball, but Baifeng hadn't finished speaking yet.

"However, I think that if you encounter road sections where stones are relatively abundant, you can use local materials and build such roads according to your idea. The delay to the project progress won't be too great, and at the same time, it can be considered a test to see if this plan is as good as you say."

"If, after the test of time, it is found that the effect is indeed better, then when we build roads in more places in the future, we can build them according to this new standard you have set, and get it done right the first time."

Zao raised his head again, and there was light in his eyes. As long as it wasn't completely and utterly denied, then he was successful.

"There is one more thing. Besides the road sections that already have many stones, if you encounter steep slopes that will definitely be washed away by water when it rains, or places where the road surface is soft and prone to collapse, build those according to this standard as well. Consider it a preemptive measure against risks—pick and choose to build some high-standard roads."