Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 1034 - 833 Dirulai

Chapter 1034: Chapter 833 Dirulai

In North Zhili, outside Hejian City, a four-wheeled carriage slowly came to a halt by the official road.

Subsequently, Grand Secretary Chen Xun, dressed in a long robe of white cloth, descended from the carriage.

His gaze was then deeply captivated by the straight road ahead, about four zhang wide, paved with asphalt, cement, and gravel, and also by those four-wheeled carriages constantly shuttling back and forth.

In the early years of reformation, the Court reorganized the rites related to carriages, explicitly allowing the common people to use four-wheeled carriages as well.

Consequently, this type of four-wheeled carriage that was originally only to be used in the military and was equipped with bearings and shock absorbers rapidly spread and gained popularity among the common people, soon becoming the favorite mode of transport for government officials and wealthy merchants.

This cost-effective four-wheeled carriage quickly became common on streets and alleys everywhere, and even in the rural fields.

Even the truly wealthy households could hardly bear the tremendous consumption of horse-drawn carriages and more commonly used four-wheeled carriages for their regular transportation.

However, these four-wheeled carriages were primarily used for transportation, as their carrying capacity was ten times that of two-wheeled carriages.

At the same time, the official roads suitable for racing four-wheeled carriages also received attention.

Local gentry and merchants exerted enormous pressure on the government to allocate funds for road repairs or even to donate money themselves.

The road before Chen Xun, running from Hejian to Baoding and connecting to the Capital City, was built half a year ago through funds raised by local governments with the Court providing half of the financial subsidies.

For this purpose, the Tongzhou government had employed nine thousand incredibly strong Demons of Taihang Mountain, paying them in grain and silver coin to help with the road construction.

— As for its effectiveness, Chen Tuo had already experienced it.

Under the ’traffic rules’ instituted by Prince Fenyang, the carriage sped along the road as swiftly as a shooting star, hardly less impressive than the flying carriages he had used before.

Though the ride was slightly bumpy, those flying carriages that oscillated up and down in the air were actually not much better.

"Master!"

At this moment, a man past his fifties, with a gray beard and still robust, jumped down from the carriage shaft.

He tucked his hands into his sleeves and walked behind Grand Secretary Chen Xun, "The sky is getting dark today; it might snow heavily at night. Should we look for an inn outside the city to stay in?"

The man before him had resigned from his position as Grand Secretary following his mother’s funeral.

Yet he still held the revered title of Grand Secretary to the Court, one of the three dignitaries, in a position second only to Taishi, Prince Fenyang.

So theoretically, on his way home to retire in glory, not only did each relay station have to receive him with almost the same standards as a County Prince, but local officials also had to greet him at the city gates.

However, Chen Xun partly disliked the current official practice of excessive formal welcomes and farewells, and partly wanted to observe local customs along his return journey without causing a stir in the local governments, hence he passed by each station without stopping.

Chen Xun also looked up at the sky, recognizing that the densely covered clouds and intermittently gusting winds were signs of a heavy snowfall.

Having lived in Beijing for many years, he knew this was an indicator of heavy snow.

The official roads built in the north by the Court this year were marvelously smooth, with the asphalt and concrete almost magical in quality.

Thus, even at night, the official road running directly from Beijing to Yangzhou was bustling with incessant traffic.

But if it were to snow, then the situation would be different. The roads would become icy and slippery, posing dangers of vehicles overturning or even colliding at any time.

However, under the strong advocacy of Prince Fenyang, the Court established the Hulu Division, employing a large number of Spellcasters and Monster species, along with many canal soldiers diverted from transportation duties, to be supported by taxes levied on road traffic.

Once the snow stopped, within no more than two shichen, the road could be restored to normal traffic conditions.

Previously, Chen Xun was conservative in his views, fearing that the Hulu Division and the collection of road tolls might lead to public disturbance, conflicts with the population, or even exploitation of the people.

But now, having traveled all the way from Beijing, his thoughts had changed.

While the Hulu Division had its faults, its merits overshadowed them.

Along the way, he saw many overloaded carriages that were not only dangerous but also exerted tremendous pressure on the roads.

If the roads were not maintained or supervised, they would likely be ruined within a few years.

He thought that even if the Hulu Division were corrupt and engaged in private profiteering, the harm would be relatively minor. If merchants felt that using the official roads was not cost-effective, they would simply choose another route or opt for sea or canal transportation.

Besides, now that Prince Fenyang dominated the Court, not only had he abolished the worthless baochao at mid-year and raised the salaries of the court officials to seven times what they were in the first years of Jingtai, but he had also established the Integrity Bureau, parallel to the Inspectorate, specifically to investigate corruption and bribery.

The moral climate of the officialdom was gradually improving, and he believed that the officials of the Hulu Division would not dare to provoke the Integrity Bureau deliberately.

Chen Xun fixated his gaze on the ceaseless stream of carriages on the road, noticing not only a large number of merchant caravans but also many vehicles from various storage divisions of the Ministry of Revenue.

He couldn’t help but secretly ponder, thinking not only was the ’Hulu Division’ necessary, but the ’Tao Department’ proposed by Li Xuan was probably also inevitable to oversee nationwide traffic planning and the construction and maintenance of roads.

If all these tasks were under the Ministry of Works, then its power would grow even greater.

"Let’s not look outside the city, let’s find an inn inside. The Yamen of the south and the north is also in Hejian City; I also want to have a look around the city," he said.

After speaking, he walked toward another inn by the roadside.

Chen Xun had already seen that this inn was hosting more than a dozen carriages at its entrance.

This was likely a hub for a transportation company; the coachmen gathered in a shelter next to the inn, chatting and laughing together.