Chapter 803: Mission Reward, Road of Awakening! (1/2)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
”Honored guests…”
Zhao Jingdian gave a faint smile as he confidently spoke.
”Everyone, be at ease. Such a thing will never take place. Before leaving, Young Master said that after building these cement roads, we only need to set up checkpoints on the roads. If merchants want to pass through, they would need to pay a fee.
”Our Great Tang is currently the wealthiest country in the world, at the height of its prosperity. Just who can count all the merchants within its borders, and how many people would pass through those checkpoints every day? These small fees will build up, many drops making an ocean, and each day will result in a massive sum. Thus, honored guests' worries about others taking advantage of your hard work, plucking the fruit of the trees you planted, simply will not occur.”
In the world that Wang Chong had come from, building cement roads was an extremely expensive and resource-intensive process, so it was customary to pay tolls to use them. This was a matter that everyone could basically accept.
In that other world, this was absolutely normal, but the people of the Great Tang clearly did not have such a concept.
As expected, Zhao Jingdian's words immediately caused the eyes of these representatives of the great clans to shine, and their attitudes completely reversed.
”An excellent idea! But would they be willing to pay this fee?” an expert from a great clan asked.
”Haha, if they can transport more in a shorter time and with less jostling, why wouldn't they pay the fee?”
Zhao Jingdian chuckled. He didn't even need to think back to Wang Chong's advice to understand how to address the question.
Merchants worked in the pursuit of profit, and if they stood to make more profit, they would naturally pay the money, so these things the great clans worried about would never happen. This was a situation where both sides won.
”In addition, I don't know if any of you have noticed…”
As Zhao Jingdian spoke, he extended his right hand, receiving a large iron hammer from a guard at his side. He strode forward, and as the crowd looked on in shock, he smashed the hammer against the grey-white cement.
Rumble!
Shards flew everywhere, and yet Zhao Jingdian's powerful blow, carrying all the strength he could muster, was only able to create a small hole in the cement road. All of the clan experts were flabbergasted.
”Let me try!”
A scar-faced clan expert came forward and took the hammer from Zhao Jingdian. Raising it high into the air, he smashed it down.
Boom! This mighty strike again left only another small hole on the cement road, with none of that massive explosion that the crowd had imagined.
”This… is this really made from that slurry? How could lime and clay be so hard?”
The scar-faced expert was momentarily dumbfounded.
And it wasn't just him. The crowd had been so focused on the carriage, horse, and the thirty Wang Clan guards on the carriage that they only began to examine the road when Zhao Jingdian smashed at it with the hammer.
”Haha, come, take the hammers out. Everyone can try!” Noticing the change in the crowd, Zhao Jingdian immediately gave the order, and ten-some guards carrying bundles of hammers emerged. Since Zhao Jingdian had invited them, the crowd were quick to try.
”I don't believe that something made of lime and clay can be this hard!”
The clan experts took the hammers, walked up to the cement road, and began to wildly flail at it. Bangbangbang! Shards splintered off the newly-constructed cement road as the hammers whacked away, rapidly damaging it.
The Wang Clan experts wanted to stop them, but Zhao Jingdian called them back.
”It's fine!
”Let them smash as long as they want!”
Zhao Jingdian had a calm expression, and his voice exuded a persuasive power. After spending a long time with Wang Chong, he had unwittingly begun to learn a little of that self-confidence.
Zhao Jingdian and all the Wang Clan guards stood to the side, silently watching the clan experts hammer away at the cement road.
An hour later, more and more clan experts had joined in, and these hundred-some people working together had finally managed to utterly destroy the cement road.
But it was this result that the crowd found even more shocking.
If they had been unable to destroy this road, they would subconsciously believe that there was something else strange about this cement road. However, even though it had taken a great deal of time and energy, they had still managed to completely destroy it. This meant that this toughness was all due to that 'cement'.
”Impossible, impossible! To use lime, clay, and whatever that lu ore is to create something that's as tough as rock! No, this is even tougher than rock! This is absurd!”
”This is man-made rock. The Young Marquis has a method of making artificial rocks! Quickly inform the clan! Our Lu Clan has chosen the right person to follow!”
”Just how was this done? Give me another hammer! I need to try again! Such a hard road isn't possible!”
”Hahaha, I've dug up a treasure! It's no wonder the Young Marquis is the Son of Heaven's disciple, the future Eighth Great General of the Great Tang! No matter what he does, our Chen Clan can't go wrong as long as we throw our full support behind him.”