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There is simply too much expertise involved in building a dam.

It's just that compared with the water storage projects that are calculated in billions of cubic meters of water demand thousands of years later, the so-called dam of Fengpangu is actually just a barrage that is no more than 500 or 600 meters long and no more than 20 meters high......

It is also for this reason that there is not much to consider in the construction of such a dam.

As long as the base is cleaned enough, the rest is piled with cement - as long as there is enough cement, a gravity dam will be formed against the mountain!

And the sturdiness is also reliable enough.

Wei Ming believed that if he could still travel back, it would not be unusual to see this dam built by himself thousands of years later.

Therefore, after teaching Chen Dong and others to use blasting to excavate the foundation, Wei Ming turned the focus of his work to the cement plant.

Although it is certain that once the dam is built, the properties of cement have been verified, and large-scale application has been made, it is only a matter of time before the firing, sales, and other forms of cement will be taken over to the government like salt and iron......

But for now, this cement factory will be the private property of the Prince Mansion for a short time, that is for sure.

Since it is a private property, the large number of manpower required from construction to cement firing cannot be used to take advantage of the advantages of water resources to solicit from large downstream households, or directly take advantage of the construction of carpentry offices......

That's why it's imperative to hire workers.

For the sake of the reputation of the Prince's Mansion, Li Jiao's salary is not too low.

In these years, in addition to the tenant fields and so on, there is a job of opening silver on a monthly basis, and the temptation is not much worse than that of the employees of state-owned enterprises in later generations......

It is also for this reason that after hearing the news, whether it is on the dam construction site or the surrounding people who know the news, there is an endless stream of people who come to the door to ask for it......

Wan'an Zhang Ziyu and a few other soldiers who came to Wei Ming by night with wine and meat, and enthusiastically wanted to invite Wei Ming to drink a few glasses, obviously came for this!

For this kind of opportunity to open the door for his cronies, Wei Ming certainly couldn't refuse.

After all, cronies have to give benefits often in order to make them absolutely loyal......

However, the promise is agreed, but Wei Ming also has a requirement, that is, the people introduced by several people must not only be clever enough, but also credible enough in terms of character!

"As long as they perform well, not only can they be trained to be cement burners, but even if there are any opportunities in the future, I can't think about it too much!" Wei Mingdao.

Hearing this, how could Wan'an Zhang Ziyu and the others not hear the subtext, and put down their wine glasses one by one, clenching their fists and bowing deeply to the ground!

"Drink a bar!"

Wei Ming nodded and raised his glass, everything was silent.

A few days later, dozens of hired workers were placed in various positions on the site of the humble cement factory, crushing rock, digging clay, crushing coal and iron ore that had been transported one after another......

Zhang Shiwan Dongshan and a few others, because they looked clever and knew a little bit of writing, were arranged to follow Wei Ming to learn the method of trying to burn cement.

Cement has a long history.

From the first discovery in ancient Rome that volcanic ash could be made into a prototype of hardenable cement, to the appearance of real cement, the span of thousands of years......

Among them, it took nearly a thousand years to solve the problem of too long hardening time of cement, and it was not until a construction worker solved the problem of too long hardening time after calcination with limestone and clay containing iron ore by chance, and the real cement was formed.

And what Wei Ming did was, of course, a one-step cement.

The reason why the dam, cement factory and even the official kiln porcelain factory were chosen to be built in Fengpan Valley was because when I inspected the site, I found that almost all the surrounding mountains were made of limestone, and the surrounding clay was also rich in a large amount.

With limestone and clay, the basic materials for firing cement are no longer a problem.

As a double doctor of geology and chemical engineering, Wei Ming at least does not need to know what ingredients are needed to make cement, so he can only make mistakes or continuous trial and error, and the remaining small amount of ingredients such as gypsum and iron ore powder are needed......

If you don't have enough, you can ship it from elsewhere and add it as you like, and there is no problem at all.

However, the coal that is indispensable for firing also needs to be transported from outside, and the demand is not low, which makes Li Li very headache......

Fortunately, as the future emperor, Li Jiao's vision is not too short-sighted, and he knows the long-term benefits brought by the completion of the dam and the large-scale use of cement, so although the coal matter is a headache, it does not need Wei Ming to worry about.

But in the blink of an eye, the moon has passed.

Yang Bing, Cao Shaokun and others, who transported a large amount of iron ore, not only clearly observed the blasting method, but also learned the preparation of the most primitive initiating charge......

At the same time, seeing that Wei Ming applied the same detonation mode to a small jar, and the scene of debris flying sideways after the explosion, the two of them were red with excitement, not only did they no longer have the misery of being pitted, but they went away with a thousand thanks.

"I don't know why I went back to paint cats and tigers, but don't blow up people!"

Looking at Li Jiao, Zeng Fanzhi, and Wu Dong's expressions like children had been stolen, Wei Ming, who had hidden a hand, spoke in a quiet tone......

Several people disappeared in an instant, looking at each other and smiling.

It was almost November, and even though the temperature in the Tang Dynasty was much higher than thousands of years later, the evening in Guanzhong still began to hide the cold air seeping through the bones.

The base of the dam has been completely excavated, and on the ground at the bottom, countless rock pits nearly three feet thick and more than nearly one zhang deep have been excavated, and countless steel bars with roots longer than two zhang have been specially produced by Li Heng and then specially produced by the iron yard.

Wei Ming believed that if Li Heng was able to get these things, it must be that Li Longji knew some of the situation on this side of the dam.

After all, in this era, it is conceivable that it is difficult to produce nearly six meters of steel bars, not to mention the output of steel, but to talk about the technology of government-run steel plants.

If it weren't for Li Longji, who might not understand but still felt very powerful after hearing about it, Li Heng wanted to get these steel bars, even if he was the crown prince, I am afraid it would not be easy.

With these reinforcements, combined with the deep pits that have been dug out of the basement, it is clear that the preparations for the construction of the dam are nearing completion.

For the rest, it's up to the cement!

As for cement, not only Wei Ming himself, but also Li Li and others feel that this is the part that needs to be worried the least.

After all, not to mention the initial cement sample, let's just say that in the past month or so, Wei Ming has taken Zhang Shiwan Dongshan and others to test fire several times with a small shaft kiln, and the results have been proven.

What is needed now is to increase the production capacity of a few large shaft kilns of green bricks!

It is also for this reason that after Dong Laxi, who had no novelty at Wei Ming's request, talked about Yao Shun, sages, current saints, etc., Li Jiao roared and lit a fire, and then ran back to the temporary palace to hug his maid without any freshness......

Wei Ming and others also painted the scoop in the same way.

The firing of cement was all handed over to Zhang Shiwan Dongshan and others.