It's not that the cabinet ministers didn't dissuade him, it's that the officials were quite stubborn on such matters.
Not only the cabinet ministers, but also the imperial concubines in the inner garden also tried to persuade her, but to no avail.
The sky did not clear up because of the emperor's trip, and the rainy days continued for many days. The rain beat on the roof of the carriage, which was very rhythmic and the sound was very soft, but Zhao Xi felt very annoyed when he heard it.
In his previous life, Zhao Xi was from the north and had no experience in flood prevention at all. His understanding of flood prevention was only the contents of documents at specific times every year, or just a quick glance, without any impression.
Regarding the Yellow River, he only knew the name of the mother river and heard of several floodings...
Next, I heard that when my father was in power, the Yellow River changed its course and caused starvation all over the land.
Zhao Xi received organizational education for many years in his previous life. Although he tried his best to integrate into this era, he really could not remain indifferent to the disasters suffered by his people.
"Try your best!" Zhao Xi sighed helplessly.
"Whether the officials personally inspect the dams has no effect on the dams themselves, so why bother? Even if we need to inspect the dams, is it possible for us to deceive them?"
When officials inspect the dam, all cabinet ministers must accompany them. This is their attitude.
Before Han Qi, the naughty man, could speak, Zhang Fangping complained first.
Also, a northerner in the official family and a man who grew up in the palace, in this regard, really don't know as much about flood prevention as he did in the cabinet who once served in Shuzhong.
But there was no way, no matter how hard they tried, no one persuaded the officials to come down.
"We are expressing our attitude, so why aren't the officials expressing their attitude?"
This statement...is basically true.
"How about the raincoat in this workshop city? If it doesn't work, I'll still use a raincoat."
Speaking of this, there is more to say.
In this era, rain protection was mostly provided by umbrellas or oil-paper umbrellas. A raincoat was considered a rainproof device for one person.
For this reason, Zhao Xi asked Gongfangcheng to use oil paper to make a cloak style, or later raincoat style, in order to replace the coir raincoat.
The result is not ideal. The oil paper is brushed with tung oil, so it is very stiff. It can be used as an umbrella. However, the raincoat is not easy-going and not close to the body. Whether it is gathered up or protected from rain, it is not as good as a raincoat.
Originally, Zhao Xi had given up hope, thinking that before the advent of plastic, the raincoats of later generations would simply not be possible.
Occasionally, when Zhao Xi was reviewing the Lingnan memorial, he accidentally spilled the milk for late night snack. The milk was sprinkled on the memorial...
I thought that the memorial should be completely abolished, but when the internal prison was busy cleaning up, Zhao Xi actually found that the memorial was still the same.
So, Zhao Xi ordered people to buy this kind of paper from Lingnan, which was said to be called grain paper.
After consulting the information, it turns out that this type of cereal paper was popular in Jiangnan during the Three Kingdoms period. Because it has better waterproof properties, the nobles in Jiangnan often used this type of cereal paper to write letters and copy classics.
Jiangnan was humid, so this kind of grain paper was used to pass down the classics and history.
This time, when the magistrate of Guangnan East Road and Quanzhou was writing the memorial, he accidentally used cereal paper, which gave Zhao Xi confidence in producing raincoats again.
Immediately, Zhao Xi ordered Gongfangcheng to send people to Guangnan to learn the craftsmanship of this cereal paper, and on this basis, he began to try to make raincoats.
Several years have passed, and Gongfangcheng Raincoat is already the third generation of Grain Paper Raincoat.
Even Zhao Xi didn't know what was added to it. Anyway, Zhao Xi felt that it was no worse than the raincoats of later generations.
This time, the cabinet must accompany the dam inspection. They are all veterans in their fifties and sixties. Zhao Xi ordered Gongfang City to send a batch of raincoats...~
The new type of raincoat, Zhao Xi instructed Workshop City, was designed according to the type of raincoat worn by the military in later generations. It is a cape-style raincoat with a hood, double sleeves and a straight tube.
At this stall, the carriage had already pulled the officials and cabinet ministers to the embankment in Bianliang, and the officials had already got off the carriage wearing raincoats.
The cabinet minister didn't care whether the raincoat was working or not, and hurriedly put on the raincoat and went up the embankment...
At this time, it seems that everyone has forgotten about the raincoat and is staring at the official house...
What is this for? I saw the official manipulating the golden melon warrior's halberd, poking the dike one after another...
The sound of rain hitting the embankment, ticking on the raincoat, and the surging Yellow River water could not hear the sound of officials poking at the embankment with their halberds.
However, just by looking at the force used by the officials, everyone understood that the officials were really pushing hard.
If this is a rammed earth dam, if it is soaked by rainwater and poked in this way a few times, it may be a whirlpool, which will cause the dam to break.
And now...
"What do the officials mean?"
Fu Bi shouted loudly, fearing that the officials would not hear him.
"Cement dams are different from rammed earth. Once there are leaks on the surface of a cement dam, seepage will occur and water will pour into the interior of the dam..."
Zhao Xi also had a loud voice. In this heavy rain weather, and on the Yellow River embankment, we had to shout to talk to each other.
Zhao Xi simply explained to Fu Bi and others, and then walked along the embankment, poking at the embankment with his halberd every thirty or fifty steps.
We walked a long way, almost leaving the city.
He didn't know whether he was tired from walking or poking, or because he didn't find anything that worried him along the way.
The official finally stopped and threw his halberd to Wang Zhongzheng.
For a while, Fu Bi and others were already very tired.
Facing the heavy rain, I heard the rumbling sound of the Yellow River water, and the sound of dripping raindrops falling on my raincoat. I was very irritated. I don’t know whether it was because of the childish behavior of the officials, or because I was old and frail.
Don't follow the official pace.
“Where is the cement used for the dikes in Bianliang?”
"Going back to the official house, the Bianliang dyke was the first to be repaired with cement. The earliest one was more than ten years old. All the cement was used in Gongfangcheng."
"They were all transported by rail carriages from Gongfang City. As for where they were produced, Wei Chen doesn't know. Then Wei Chen will check them out!"
The head of the Water Supervision Bureau of the Ministry of Industry rarely has the opportunity to talk to officials alone. However, as a technical official, he is not discouraged and speaks eloquently.
“Are the Yellow River dams all made of Gongfangcheng cement?”
"Back to the government, no. When we were dredging the Huazhou dam last year, because there were cement workshops in Huazhou, the Ministry of Industry purchased cement locally in order to save freight...~"
This is also what it should be.
The cement formula has been sold in Gongfangcheng, and cement workshops have been opened in many prefectures, counties and cities throughout the country.
Zhao Xi didn't care much, although he was slightly worried...
"Tomorrow, go to Huazhou in person and use the method I just used to check the condition of the Huazhou dam."
Zhao Xi didn't even know the name of the chief of the Water Supervision Bureau of the Ministry of Works. From the feeling, he should be a technocrat, so he went without any worries.
Zhao Xi also knew that if he insisted on inspecting the dams in Bianliang, he could make the trip. If he went to Huazhou, he would probably upset the cabinet and the inner court.
Regardless, from today's inspection, Zhao Xi is relatively reassured.
Zhao Xi has always been worried about the current cement. From the current point of view, the effect of this kind of soil cement is quite good.
Looking at the trembling cabinet ministers, Zhao Xi felt that he was really making a fuss out of a molehill.