Li Mu's movements continued, and Li Shimin couldn't sit still, and finally summoned Li Mu to the palace on the day before the Shangyuan Festival, in the name of asking about the preparations for the Shangyuan Festival.

Without any greetings, Li Shimin stared at Li Mu with his eyes and said, "What are you doing?" It's easy to throw away one or two hundred thousand yuan of money, and you say throw it away? You throw so much money into Lantian, and when the time comes, you will lose all your money, depending on how you end up. ”

Li Mu smiled and didn't speak. Li Shimin was stunned for a moment, and then he was a little embarrassed. One or two hundred thousand is really nothing to Li Mu. He sighed and said, "Okay, I don't worry about you anymore, you explain to me, what's going on?" ”

"Your Majesty, the minister has a thing, please enjoy it for Your Majesty." Li Mu took out a gray clod of soil from his sleeve and handed it to Li Shimin. Li Shimin frowned, stretched out his hand to take it, and wondered: "Isn't this just a stone...... Huh? Not like stones, compacted clods? Weighing it in his hand, he shook his head again, and said, "The clod of soil is not so hard," he looked up at Li Mu and said, "What is this?" ”

"Hehe," Li Mu smiled confidently and said, "Your Majesty, this is the rumored cement." ”

"Cement?" Li Shimin looked at the cement block in his hand and wondered: "What is this thing for?" Cement, with the word water, where is the water? ”

"The so-called cement is called cement because it was originally in powder form and needed to be mixed with water to make a mud. As for what is the use of this thing, His Majesty has already seen it. Li Mu pointed to the clod of soil in Li Shimin's hand and said, "It is a building material. ”

"Building materials?"

Li Shimin glanced at the cement block in his hand, thought for a while, and said, "I probably understand what you mean, but is this thing practical?" ”

Li Shimin did not explain, but between the words, he was still full of doubts.

Li Mu didn't answer, but asked, "May I ask in the eyes of Your Majesty, which city has the strongest walls?" ”

Li Shimin thought for a while and said: "If you talk about the city wall, it must be the Great Wall that takes care of it the most." In the past, the Great Wall of the Qin and Han dynasties remained strong for hundreds of years. But if it is the city wall of the city, I think that the city wall of Chang'an City should be the most balanced. In the past, the general Yu Wenkai was ordered to supervise the construction, using the same glutinous rice mortar as the Great Wall, and it is rumored that the city wall of one mile cost 60,000 catties of glutinous rice. That is, the former Sui Dynasty, which is left now, I can't afford to repair it. ”

Li Mu said again: "If the minister tells Your Majesty that the cost of cement is only one percent of the glutinous rice mortar, what does Your Majesty think?" ”

"One, one!" Li Shimin Huo Ran stood up and stammered: "One, one by one? ”

He made a simple calculation in his mind, the hardness of this cement is almost the same as that of glutinous rice mortar, but the cost is only one-tenth. At present, Datang's economic situation is not as good as that of the former Sui, but if the cost is one-tenth, it is still affordable to grit your teeth.

If the city near the border is used to repair the city wall and build a fortress with this 'glutinous rice' mortar of one-tenth of the cost, what thieves are afraid of on the side? Close the city gate, everyone consumes, no matter whether you win or lose, you are invincible first.

"I'll have to see it with my own eyes!" Li Shimin looked at Li Mu seriously, said again as if confirmed, and said, "I must see it with my own eyes." ”

Li Mu had already guessed that Li Shimin would make this request, and said with a smile: "Then I can only ask Your Majesty to move to the valley, the minister just used cement the day before yesterday to build a dormitory for the captains of the Lecture Martial Arts Hall, Your Majesty can see with your own eyes whether it is strong or not." ”

"It was built the day before yesterday?" Li Shimin is not ignorant at all, and said: "It takes at least five days for glutinous rice mortar......

"Your Majesty, the minister's cement, no matter from any angle, can replace the glutinous rice mortar, Your Majesty will see it in person."

Li Shimin's heart became more and more excited, if cement can really completely replace glutinous rice mortar at a tenth of the price, then its value will increase again, at least ten times!

Just imagine, the two armies are fighting each other, and in two days, one side builds a city wall that takes into account both sides, how much deterrence should it have on the enemy?

As soon as Li Mu saw the light in Li Shimin's eyes, he guessed that he must have thought of the military use of cement again. couldn't help but sigh in his heart, the longer he contacted Li Shimin, the more he felt that Li Shimin's ambition was extremely inflated, and everything he thought about in his head was to prepare for war, including things like rest and recuperation, which were also for this purpose.

Li Mu has no doubt that if the Tang Dynasty now has the national strength of the former Sui. Li Shimin would not stay in Chang'an City for a day, he had already conquered Goguryeo in the east and Tuyuhun in the west.

At this point, Li Mu and Li Shimin's ideas are a bit contrary.

Li Mu is not a warmonger, he doesn't want to start a war, he just wants his people to live a good life, not to be bullied, no one dares to bully, this is enough. Any war, whether it is invaded or invaded by others, is deadly. The difference is only in the number of deaths.

It took so much effort to let the people eat a full meal and let people survive. Just to let them go to war and die? This kind of bullshit logic, Li Mu can't agree.

But when he says such things now, Li Shimin will definitely not listen to them, so he doesn't plan to say that he is going to do these things secretly, just do it imperceptibly, and there is no need to discuss.

……

The group went out of the palace and came to the valley along the road, Li Shimin asked Gonggong Gao to go to Li Yuan to greet Li Yuan first instead of him, saying that he would arrive later, otherwise his father would have to find fault with him. Li Shimin followed Li Mu to the lecture hall where he had just attended the opening ceremony a few days ago, that is, the site of the former Datang Technical School, and sure enough, he saw a row of newly built houses. In just a few days, the house was built, and Li Shimin couldn't help but step forward and reach out and touch it, wanting to see if it was true.

When I got closer, I saw that the walls were made of masonry and had been completely glued together, and there was a finger-wide gray gap between the bricks, which looked uneven and intermittently covered with hoarfrost. Li Shimin raised his hand and punched it, hard hand, Li Mu saw that he was going to continue to harm himself, so he hurriedly handed over an iron hammer, and Li Shimin took it and slashed at the brick joint. The harsh sound of metal grinding left only a shallow scratch on the top. Obviously, it can't break the defense, Li Shimin tried it again with a brick joint, and the effect was still the same, Li Shimin stepped forward unbelievably, and pressed the solidified cement in the crack of the wall with his fingers, every inch was the same hardness, like a stone, no wonder the iron drill was helpless.

Li Shimin pushed the wall again, but did not move.

Then he kicked with his foot and pushed hard with his shoulder, but the wall remained still.

Li Mu saw that Li Shimin was a little upset, so he hurriedly grabbed him and persuaded: "Your Majesty, the dragon body is important, and you can't get along with a dead thing." ”

"I just want to see how strong it is!"

Li Mu hugged Li Shimin tightly, shouted, and Li Chongyi, who was observing the training of the captain of the Wutang in the school field, strode over and saw Li Shimin bow and salute.

Li Mu pointed to the cement wall, Li Chongyi nodded, untied the giant axe from his waist, and swung it hard, only to hear a loud sound of the ground shaking the mountain, and the cement wall fell down on the whole side.

Li Chongyi coolly put away his axe and bowed again, and went back to continue observing.

Li Shimin was so shocked that his jaw almost dislocated, and praised: "This kind of divine power is difficult to match in the world." ”

Li Mu said modestly: "Your Majesty has praised it, you still have to learn." Some time ago, this kid competed with the bearded guest, but he was still defeated. But recently, the bearded guest seems to have taught him a way to practice qi, and this kid's strength has grown again. ”

Li Shimin didn't know what he remembered, his sadness flashed, and he said: "Moderate stopping, it may not be a good thing, I have one-" The words came to his mouth, and he swallowed back somehow, turned the topic back, looked at the half-section of the wall that fell to the ground, and said: "Even if it is broken, it is a whole, it seems that this kind of cement wall, as you said, is very strong." ”

"The intensity can be improved." Li Mu said firmly: "What is used now is only the sample in the development process of the minister, and it has not yet reached the state of the finished product." And depending on the purpose of use, the recipe is different. If you use the best formula, the cost will be too high. ”

"I don't know that, but I can see that it's a treasure." Li Shimin patted Li Mu on the shoulder and said, "Tell me, where can this thing be used?" ”

"There are three main uses, construction, road building, and embankment." Li Mu Zhengse said: "The minister plans to use all the cement for the first time to build roads, then to build embankments, and finally to build houses or city walls. ”

Li Shimin frowned slightly, and said, "Such a good thing, if it is used in a border city-"

"Your Majesty, the minister has already told Your Majesty about the importance of building roads, the Tang Dynasty is vast and vast, and only by strengthening transportation can we better connect. The imperial court can better influence the place, and the materials from all over the country can be transferred, and now there are no provocateurs on the four sides, and it is necessary to take precautions, but it is not urgent, Your Majesty. ”

Li Shimin knew that what Li Mu said was right, nodded, threw the iron drill aside, pulled the topic back and asked, "This house was really built two days ago?" ”

Li Mu couldn't cry or laugh: "Your Majesty, what else is there to believe?" When you came to the opening ceremony, did you see this row of houses? ”

"Not really."

"Isn't that the end of it?" Li Mu spread his hands and said: "If Your Majesty doesn't believe it, you can ask the directors of the Internal Affairs Office, the ministers can't catch anyone for a while, and at the same time, they want to investigate whether this group of boys has forgotten the basic skills of the Datang Technical School, so they called them over to build a wall." The section of the wall that His Majesty just knocked on was built by the eldest grandson, you think it's okay, right? ”

Saying that, Li Mu praised again: "Eldest Sun Chong, this kid, why didn't I see that he was so promising?" He has been quite busy this year, but these basic skills have not been left behind. A few days ago, I checked the files of the Ministry of Industry and found that this kid actually took the time to participate in the vocational skill level assessment of the Ministry of Industry, and the skill level of the bricklayer has reached the level of a technician, and he has not forgotten his original intention, which is really gratifying for me as a teacher. ”

"I really don't understand what the point you care about." Li Shimin snorted and said, "In my opinion, Changsun Chong is already a young talent who can take charge on his own, whether he can be a bricklayer or a carpenter, what's the difference?" Putting your mind on this kind of thing is a complete waste of time. ”

"Otherwise, Your Majesty!" Li Mu Zhengse said: "Absolutely not like this, Changsun Chong is the eldest disciple of my Xiaoyao faction, my disciple brother, although it seems to be Meng Lang, but it has my own set of rules, that is, all apprentices must have their own skills, not limited to types, but there must be." For example, Changsun Chong is more extensive, and the carpentry and bricklayer are not bad, but like Qingque, this aspect is much worse. He specializes in mechanical arts, and I have already told him that if he doesn't meet my standards this year, he won't be my apprentice in three months. ”

"Isn't that the end of it?" Li Mu spread his hands and said: "If Your Majesty doesn't believe it, you can ask the directors of the Internal Affairs Office, the ministers can't catch anyone for a while, and at the same time, they want to investigate whether this group of boys has forgotten the basic skills of the Datang Technical School, so they called them over to build a wall." The section of the wall that His Majesty just knocked on was built by the eldest grandson, you think it's okay, right? ”

Saying that, Li Mu praised again: "Eldest Sun Chong, this kid, why didn't I see that he was so promising?" He has been quite busy this year, but these basic skills have not been left behind. A few days ago, I checked the files of the Ministry of Industry and found that this kid actually took the time to participate in the vocational skill level assessment of the Ministry of Industry, and the skill level of the bricklayer has reached the level of a technician, and he has not forgotten his original intention, which is really gratifying for me as a teacher. ”

"I really don't understand what the point you care about." Li Shimin snorted and said, "In my opinion, Changsun Chong is already a young talent who can take charge on his own, whether he can be a bricklayer or a carpenter, what's the difference?" Putting your mind on this kind of thing is a complete waste of time. ”

"Otherwise, Your Majesty!" Li Mu Zhengse said: "Absolutely not like this, Changsun Chong is the eldest disciple of my Xiaoyao faction, my disciple brother, although it seems to be Meng Lang, but it has my own set of rules, that is, all apprentices must have their own skills, not limited to types, but there must be." For example, Changsun Chong is more extensive, and the carpentry and bricklayer are not bad, but like Qingque, this aspect is much worse. He specializes in mechanical arts, and I have already told him that if he doesn't meet my standards this year, he won't be my apprentice in three months. ”

"Isn't that the end of it?" Li Mu spread his hands and said: "If Your Majesty doesn't believe it, you can ask those directors of the Internal Affairs Office, the minister can't catch anyone for a while, and at the same time, he also wants to investigate whether this group of boys has it."