We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

Wang Chongjian covered his head angrily, while Hua Changan helped him bandage the wound while trying not to laugh.

Li Che stood aside with an awkward smile on his face.

Fortunately, Taishi Shitou is not here, otherwise if this scene is recorded in the history books, future trolls will definitely seize on this matter and label him as a tyrant.

"Ahem, ahem, don't be angry, my Lord. Drink some honey water first."

"Isn't it because I feel that the people and soldiers are overworked? That's why I personally supervised the rehearsals of a few performances to help everyone relieve their boredom!"

Wang Chongjian refused to accept the suggestion: "Your Highness, please don't talk about other things. If I hadn't arrived just in time, you would have gone to your bedroom by now!"

Li Che's face suddenly darkened. "What are you talking about? What are you talking about? Although this prince also likes women, he only likes young women. How could such a thin, frail, and flat-chested Silla maid possibly catch my eye?"

"Young woman...young woman is indeed very memorable." Wang Chongjian subconsciously agreed.

In ancient times, people got married early, and many women got married at the age of fifteen or sixteen. Even if they had been married for ten years, they would only be twenty-five or twenty-six.

A young woman of twenty-five or twenty-six is ​​in her golden age. Not only Li Che likes her, but even the ancient man Wang Chongjian likes her!

"No, no!"

Wang Chongjian realized that he had been led astray by His Highness. What did this have to do with the young woman?

I clearly wanted to advise His Highness to work hard and not indulge in women.

"Alright, I'll fix it." Li Che interrupted Wang Chongjian's spellcasting. "You've come all this way in such a hurry, but what happened at the construction site?"

Speaking of business, Wang Chongjian stood up, holding his head, and said, "News has come from Shanhaiguan that the court is moving refugees to our side again. This should be the order of His Majesty."

"here we go again?"

Wang Chongjian nodded: "Then Xue Zhen means to invite you to Shanhaiguan for a meeting."

"Oh?" Li Che asked doubtfully, "Xue Zhen is in charge of guarding Shanhaiguan, defending against us and the barbarians. Why would he ask me to go there?"

Wang Chongjian couldn't answer either. When it came to commanding craftsmen and dredging rivers, he was an expert.

But when it comes to the political ability to understand people's hearts, he is a complete political idiot who knows nothing about it, even inferior to Li Che.

"Never mind. I'll just go inspect the road." Li Che stood up. "Did Xue Zhen say when he'd go?"

"The sooner the better. The imperial army will be able to reach Shanhaiguan today." Wang Chongjian replied.

Letting the girls in the girl group practice on their own, Li Che took his personal guard battalion and called Yue Yun and Huo Duanxiao as bodyguards, and headed straight for Shanhaiguan.

A group of cavalrymen galloped on the flat cement road, and the only sound they could hear was the clatter of their horses' hooves.

Yue Yun frowned thoughtfully and quickened his pace to come to Li Che's side: "Your Highness, although this road is good, the texture is so hard that it might wear out the horseshoes."

In ancient times, iron and steel were common materials for making horseshoes because they were hard and durable enough to withstand the pressure and wear caused by the horse's hoof contacting the ground.

But being hard means being more susceptible to wear, especially when walking on hard roads.

"That's fine. We in Feng State lack everything except iron," Li Che replied. "Besides, our horses were all looted from the barbarians. We have fewer iron horseshoes and more leather ones."

"When the time comes, wrap the hooves of the oxen and horses pulling the carts with leather, and the consumption won't be so great."

Early horseshoes were not entirely made of metal, but also included leather and other materials. Especially for barbarians with underdeveloped productivity, most of them were made of pottery and leather.

Huo Duanxiao heard the conversation between the two and stepped forward to say, "Not only that, Your Highness, have you ever considered that in winter, this road might be covered with snow, or even frozen over with a layer of ice?"

"By then, even if you wrap the horse's hooves with leather, they will still slip, and transportation will become a problem."

Li Che smiled slightly. As a native of Northeast China, how could he not consider this issue?

Traffic accidents are very common in Northeast China during the winter. If you don’t have dozens of accidents a day, you are considered lucky.

And there is a joke in Northeast China:

To tell whether a person is rich, it is not to see how good the car he drives, but to see whether he uses snow tires in winter.

The road conditions in Northeast China in winter are really hard to describe. There is a layer of ice underneath and a layer of snow on top, and it is as smooth as if it were made of Dove.

No matter whether you spread salt or shovel snow, it can only solve the problem temporarily, and the ground will freeze again after one night.

However, the people living in this land have never lacked wisdom.

"It's not difficult. We don't need carriages for transportation in winter."

Huo Duanxiao asked doubtfully, "What should I use?"

Li Che smiled and said, "I have something that can move at full speed on the ice without any obstruction."

In the days when there were no snow tires and people had to rely on mules and horses for travel, the people of Northeast China invented a means of transportation that could travel unimpeded in the world of ice and snow.

The Heilongjiang Annals states:

It is made like an ice bed, but without the dragging iron bars. The shaft is made of bent wood, and the seat is low, like a chariot, with a high yoke in front of the wheels. It is pulled by oxen or horses, and can move across the ice like flying. It can also be covered with curtains and quilts to keep out the cold.

This thing is - a sled!

Sleds are usually pulled by oxen and horses, but can also be pulled by dogs, deer, four-legged beasts and other animals.

Anyway, as long as it is an animal that can run on four legs, just put a rope on it and let it run.

Moreover, the sled is easy to make and every household can make it themselves.

Children can use this small sled to climb up a high slope, and once they put it down, it can slide hundreds of meters away.

Some people also use cloth to spread a small sail on the winter glacier, and rely on wind power to push the small sled, which can move quickly on the winter glacier.

The group set out in the morning and arrived at the end of the road in the afternoon.

The newly laid cement had not dried yet, so everyone had to take a detour to Shanhaiguan.

As the sun sets, the sky is dyed with a touch of golden red, like a burning flame rolling in the sea of ​​clouds.

Li Che looked up at the majestic pass in front of him. The arrow battlements and towers on the city wall were coated with a layer of warm gold by the setting sun, making it look particularly solemn and dignified.

The majestic city wall cast a long shadow in the afterglow of the setting sun, like a weathered soldier leaning over to guard this land.

Shanhaiguan is very important, extremely important.

By controlling Shanhaiguan, we have the initiative. We can advance through the pass and go south to compete for the Central Plains, or retreat and close the pass to defend the northeast.

Looking at the map, the entire northeast is surrounded by mountains, and the only exit is Shanhaiguan.

"It's truly the best pass in the world." Li Che exclaimed, "It's a pity that such a good pass is out of my control."

Huo Duanxiao and Yue Yun, who were standing beside him, heard Li Che's presumptuous words and chose to pretend not to hear them.

What a joke. As long as Shanhaiguan is not in your hands, Fengguo will still be a vassal state of Daqing.

If Shanhaiguan is in your hands, wouldn't Daqing become a vassal state of Fengguo?

Before Li Che could say anything more, the gate slowly opened, and a mighty general walked out of Guanzhong with his soldiers.

Li Che looked at Xue Zhen who came to greet him personally, and his eyes lit up:

"It would be a waste to send such a general to guard the pass. It would be better for him to join my army."

As a human being, you cannot have it all. But as a vassal king, it is just the opposite. You must have it all.

Xue Zhen didn't know that Li Che not only had his Guancheng in mind, but also had his eyes on him.

I bowed respectfully and said, "I pay my respects to His Majesty the Prince."

"My dear, please... cough cough cough, get up."