PFC Chapter 459 The devastated city of Chang'an.
Chapter 459 The devastated city of Chang'an.
Ye Kun had no choice but to agree and tour the ancient city of Chang'an in the drizzle.
The old city of Chang'an is very large, covering nearly 40 square kilometers, and at its peak it had a population of one million.
There were palaces, ancestral temples, altars for grain and grain, Biyong, markets, workshops in the city...but later it suffered from wars many times and became devastated.
The tone was set when planning the new city.
The old city of Chang'an was completely demolished, and all usable materials were used to build the new city.
Because the groundwater in the old city is seriously polluted by feces, it is really not suitable for living.
Demolishing the old and building the new is a huge project that needs to be completed in several stages.
Wen Qi and experts from the Ministry of Industry developed a plan.
First, demolish part of the old city, build the inner city of the new city, and at the same time build the sewer system, and then expand the new city piece by piece.
At the current progress, only one third of the old city has been demolished, and the inner city of the new city has just been completed.
One hundred and fifty thousand laborers and craftsmen participated in the construction here.
There are also a large number of logistics support personnel and public security maintenance personnel.
In general, the construction volume of Chang'an New City is far greater than that of Zhuojun New Capital.
Wen Qi introduced it and said with a smile: "When demolishing the old city, there is a benefit, that is, you can often dig up treasures. Gold, silver, copper coins, jewels and jade stones are often found underground."
Ye Kun nodded: "This is a 400-year-old capital. Countless high-ranking officials and wealthy businessmen have lived here. It is normal to dig out treasures from the ground."
When ancient people encountered wars, they liked to bury their gold, silver and jewelry underground.
In the end, there was no time to take it away, and it became ownerless.
Wen Qi added: "Because the old city is being demolished, there are not many residents in the city. Only a small number of craftsmen and businessmen still live here. Some people are unwilling to leave and are very resistant."
"We have to leave. Drinking this well water will make us sick, or even cause a plague that will kill the entire city."
Ye Kun sighed and said, "Try to appease the people and communicate with them in a friendly way. If that doesn't work, just give them some money. There are only about 60,000 or 70,000 native residents in Chang'an, so we can still make arrangements."
Chang'an originally had a large population, but many of them were killed by Niu Yeliang.
Xiahou Chang attacked and killed another group of people.
Later, Ye Kun and Xiahou Chang confronted each other for several years, Chang'an became the front line, and many people were scared away.
When Ye Kun captured Chang'an City, there were only about 60,000 to 70,000 people in the city.
Wen Qi nodded and said, "I have explained and comforted the original residents of Chang'an. We will demolish their old houses and give them new houses of the same area. They don't need to pay, but they need to participate in the labor. After the inner city is completed, the next step will be the residential buildings in the outer city."
Ye Kun still admires Wen Qi's abilities.
In order to support Wenqi's work, Ye Kun visited some people, gave them money or gifts, and gave them a speech to cheer them up.
Wen Qi even specially drew well water in the old city and asked Ye Kun to try it out.
When you drink the well water, it has a sour and salty taste.
Ordinary people have to boil this kind of well water before they can drink it.
Ye Kun nodded and said:
"Our new city is designed with twelve east-west drainage trunks that can drain away sewage and rainwater, so there won't be such a situation. As long as there is no damage from war, the new city can be used for 500 years after it is built.
Historically, there have been many cases where cities were abandoned because their populations were too large and groundwater was polluted.
Many large cities are unable to solve the problem of drinking water supply about a hundred years after they were built.
It was not until later generations that this problem was solved when cities had complete water supply and drainage systems.
Therefore, Ye Kun asked the Ministry of Industry that all urban construction must have complete sewer systems!
The main sewer channel is made of bricks and cement.
Secondary trunk roads are connected by cement culverts or clay culverts.
Clay culvert sewers actually existed as early as the Zhou Dynasty and were not considered a rare thing.
Manholes are set up where necessary to ensure that the sewer system can be maintained and unblocked.
A medium-sized reservoir with a water surface area of several thousand acres was also built upstream of Chang'an New City.
If conditions permit and people are wealthy enough to use copper pipes, they can bring tap water into the city.
Liu Ai asked: "After the demolition of such a large old city of Chang'an, what will happen to the original site?"
Ye Kun said: "The west is short of water. I plan to build a reservoir on the site of the old city. Or dig a few rivers and restore farmland. Nature has a strong self-purification power. After hundreds of years, the groundwater here will become clean."
Wen Qi said, "There is no problem with the demolition of the old city of Chang'an and the planning of the new city. It's just that there are too few people here and the progress is slow. King of Han, I suggest buying some slaves from the Western Regions, Western Qiang, and Xiongnu to participate in the construction."
The Western Qiang and the Xiongnu in the Western Regions were both slave societies.
As long as you have money, you can buy slaves.
Ye Kun agreed with Wen Qi's suggestion and notified Gongsun Shangfei stationed in Xiqiang, He Zhongshu stationed in the northwest Xiongnu, Guan Yong and Zhao Biao stationed in Yongliang and two states to purchase a large number of slaves from other races and send them to Chang'an.
Slaves don't have any skills, but they have no problem doing hard labor.
In the old city of Chang'an, Ye Kun, Jiang Yourong and Xie Baochan spent the day scattering money.
Five hundred cotton vests, thousands of sewing kits, face towels, more than a thousand kilograms of copper coins, and thousands of small silver coins and brass coins were sent out.
The original inhabitants of Chang'an benefited greatly. They all said that Ye Kun was a benevolent and righteous ruler, that the queen was dignified and beautiful, and that she was the model for the whole country, and that Madam Xie was compassionate to the poor and the elderly, and loved the people like her own children...
Vinci was also very happy.
Because Ye Kun spends money so lavishly, it will be much easier to govern Chang'an in the future.
The next day, the weather was fine.
Yesterday's light rain just suppressed the dust and made the air fresh.
Ye Kun led everyone along the newly built road to the new city of Chang'an.
The new city is located on a loess plateau 50 miles west of the old city.
The fifty-mile-long road was also newly built, with an all-stone pavement that is smooth and clean.
There are villages, markets, post stations and military garrisons along the way.
The construction of the new city is in full swing.
Because the frost period is coming soon, we are rushing to complete the project.
The construction of the inner city and the main structures of the major buildings have been completed, and temporary walls have been built with wire and wooden stakes.
Wenqi took out the drawings and introduced them in comparison with the actual situation:
"According to the plan approved by the King of Han, the largest building in the inner city is the People's Service Center, which is also the office building. There are a total of twelve buildings, one for each of the nine departments, and behind them are the officials' residences..."
Liu Ai smiled and said, "This kind of building seems to be different from those in Luoyang, and also different from the buildings in the old city of Chang'an."
Wen Qi explained: "The main construction of Chang'an New City is office buildings, universities, primary and secondary schools, military schools, hospitals, markets, parks and squares, and east and west post houses. There are no palaces or gardens built for local officials and court officials."
Liu Ai was surprised and asked, "The King of Han is here, but he has no palace?"
Sang Buyi glared and said, "The King of Han has already issued an order that no palaces will be built except for the new capital Zhuo County. There will also be no temporary palaces. Only more posthouses will be built, and all court officials who are on business trips will stay in the posthouses."