Just like Lu Wenxiang said, Yuemuxuan's development in the Western Desert has been a little hindered.

There are many reasons for this, but one of the most important is the limitation of the geographical environment.

Don't the locals of the Western Desert want to live in wooden houses?

Of course not.

Muyang and Shiyin are the cultural characteristics of the entire Great Zhou, and the Western Desert is no exception.

Here, it's not that they don't want to live in wooden buildings, they don't have the opportunity to live in them.

There is basically no large timber produced in the local area, and if you want to use it, you have to transport it from other places, and it is really difficult to say that a door and a beam are good, and it is really difficult to do this for a whole building.

Therefore, most people here live in mud houses, and only use wood in necessary places, such as roof decorations, gates, etc., and make stone buildings into wooden buildings to deceive themselves.

As the name suggests, the main business of Yue Mu Xuan is wood.

When they developed in the Western Desert, they also wanted to follow the old practice and focus on timber trading.

It went well at first, because people here do have such needs. But it didn't take long for them to run into difficulties.

The cost of transporting timber from other places is too high.

With small demand, high cost, thin margins, and long transaction times, Yuemuxuan has been maintaining a barely subsistence state here for a long time.

It's okay when it's in the initial development period, but after a long time, the big shopkeeper Lu Wenxiang can't stand it a little......

He could only adapt to the local situation, trying to switch to the business of stone and various auxiliary materials, and occasionally dabbling in the long-distance trade of other materials.

It is precisely because of this that the last time Xu Wen ordered winter clothes from him, he didn't have any trouble at all, and he quickly got it done-Ximo Yuemuxuan already had such a business.

However, those are only incidental, and they are still fundamentally architectural. Since the focus has shifted to stone, Lu Wenxiang has wholeheartedly developed the business here.

Wood and stone are both building materials, but the difference is actually very large.

What are the types of stones, where is the stone produced better, how to transport long-distance, how to store and store, what are the accessories, how to mix and store......

It's all learning.

Lu Wenxiang is proficient in wood, and he doesn't know anything about it, so he can only learn from scratch little by little, and explore to develop new businesses.

Lu Wenxiang didn't actually say too much about these things in front of Xu Wen, but he just introduced them in a few words, but Xu Wen also changed the category and learned it from scratch.

"Boss Lu has this kind of spirit, and he can succeed in whatever he does. He said sincerely.

"Hey, it's nothing, if you want to make things happen, shouldn't you have done this?" Lu Wenxiang smiled disappreciatively, and the topic turned to business.

"But I paid close attention, and sure enough, I heard about the inner pavilion looking for a three-way earthwork. They attached great importance to this matter and sent someone to the West Desert to handle it. Their demands are not the same as they have been before. In the past, the recipe that required the Sanhe soil was usually strong and durable, and it would not rot for thousands of years. But this time, they asked for a large amount that was easy to get and easy to use. To do this, they can accept some performance shortcomings. If I can get the care of the Inner Pavilion, of course it will be much cheaper for my Yuemuxuan to develop in the Western Desert......" Lu Wenxiang admitted calmly.

Isn't cement-like that the need for performance to focus on yield and convenience in the first place?

Cement is a good thing, of course, but its biggest benefit is actually after it has become large.

Xu Wen went back this time, and basically studied all aspects of various types of cement, but he has not taken it out since he got here, and an important reason is that it is difficult to form a scale by his personal strength.

Now Lu Wenxiang's words have given him a great opportunity......

He unfolded the piece of paper in his hand and looked at the Sanhe soil recipe on it.

In fact, there is no fixed collocation for this kind of thing, and as its name suggests, it is a mixture of three or more different ingredients.

One of these three ingredients must be lime, which is the powder made by calcining limestone.

The main component of limestone is calcium carbonate, which is calcium oxide after burning, and it can be combined with some substances at room temperature to produce cementation.

However, in the process of calcination, carbon dioxide should be eliminated, and the components of under-fire lime and over-fired lime should be reduced, and the calcination process and techniques should also be very particular.

So under normal circumstances, the formula of triad soil includes not only the several components that make it up, but also the method of making and mixing these ingredients.

The ancient people were really full of wisdom, they had no chemical knowledge, did not understand the real principles of lime production and cementation, and did not know how some of the improperly constituted ingredients in it were produced.

But with continuous trial and hard work, they can still continue to improve the formula and find more suitable methods.

For example, the recipe in front of him made Xu Wen's eyes light up.

The traditional lime production is to build a lime kiln, in which the limestone and wood are laid in layers, and the fire is calcined for a week.

In order to eliminate carbon dioxide and make the limestone fully and evenly calcined, the production of lime kilns is very particular.

In modern times, the technology is more advanced, and there are various equipment and processes such as mechanical and semi-mechanical vertical kilns and rotary furnaces, boiling furnaces, cross-flow types, and double-wave types, which greatly reduce the time of lime firing - the fastest only takes two hours, and the energy-saving effect is also greatly improved, and the types of fuels are more diversified, such as coal, coke, heavy oil, liquefied gas, etc.

Of course, Xu Wen's recipe will not use so many complicated fuels, but the key point is that he has designed a new kiln!

The man drew with charcoal, and he drew very meticulously, drawing the structure and section of the inside and outside, and in some places there were also instructions to explain how the fire burned, how the air flow came in and out, and it was very detailed.

The rarest thing is that he also designed a mechanism on the outside, which can be pushed and pulled by manpower below, which can be operated continuously, and the material is loaded and discharged during the firing, which greatly increases the yield.

This is already the prototype of a semi-mechanical vertical kiln.

In this era of the past, it was only a matter of personal whimsy and ability to design such a device with one's own ideas!

"What's this person's name, and how did you find him?" asked Xu Wen.

"Are you saying that this can really work?" Lu Wenxiang instantly realized and became excited.

"It works. Xu Wen said affirmatively, and at the same time introduced the benefits of this kiln, "but this is only a prototype, there are defects, if it is actually put into use, some improvements need to be made." ”

"I'm going to get that person!" Lu Wenxiang got up, went to the door to call a small servant, and said a few words.

The little guy ran away quickly, and Lu Wenxiang came back and introduced: "That person's name is Ni Tianyang, and he is a local weirdo." ”

"What's weird?" Xu Wen was still looking at the recipe, and Xu San also came over to watch it with him.

Xu Wen figured out the author's ideas while reading, and the more he looked, the more ingenious he felt.

He had a foundation in physics and chemistry, and he specialized in the production of lime cement, so he saw the benefits of this drawing at a glance.

But the designer is a local native, and has no basis in this regard at all, and gradually designed this thing purely by his own reasoning.

Xu Wen can see the traces of improvement and his continuous development of ideas.

This person is definitely a genius who does not belong to this era!

"He is a native of the Western Desert, his family lives in the inner city of Lvlin Town, his family is quite rich, and he has been passed down for three generations. Since he was thirteen years old, his parents, grandparents and grandmothers have given him a marriage, wanting him to pass on the family and continue the Ni family's incense. Ni Tianyang had no interest in this matter, and disappeared on the day of marriage, and later never entered the bride's room, and made the elders angry to death. Lu Wenxiang said, this story attracted Xu Wen and Xu San to raise their heads.

"Angry?" the two asked, a little incredulous.

"This is too unfilial, isn't it?" Xu San frowned.

"Later, I looked into it, but it wasn't really true. The reason why his family is single is that he actually has a chronic illness, and the Ni family does not live long. It's just that the timing of that old illness was just right, and it made people feel like they were angry with him. Lu Wenxiang explained for him.

Oh...... Genetic disorders. However, if it is a hereditary heart disease, it is not surprising that it is caused by emotional agitation, and it is not wrong to say that he was angry to death.

"This Ni Tianyang is really weird, after he was angry with the elders, he was scolded by the thousands of people. But he still went his own way, and he didn't go to the house for three days, and he didn't see anyone. Fortunately, his newly married lady was very virtuous, and he had no grievances when he kept the empty room alone, and he also handled the funeral of the old man and kept the house in order. ”

As soon as Ni Tianyang saw this, he went home and reached out to get the money, if it weren't for the good wife in the family, the Ni family would have been defeated by him. ”

Xu San listened, his brows furrowed and knotted.

He gave up his apprenticeship to serve in order to support his family, and he knew that he was a very filial person.

Hearing Ni Tianyang's actions, he was so angry that he wanted to slap him to death.

But in the end, he was still very calm and rational, and his eyes turned and fell on the paper scroll in Xu Wen's hand.

"Is this what he spent all his possessions and didn't care about his father's funeral?" he asked, incredulously.