After almost half a year of construction, Hejia Village has changed a lot. The soap workshop has been expanded several times and now has a scale of more than 1,000 people. Ho Zhide is in charge of soap production, and Ho Zhiyuan's uncle Chen Shijing is in charge of raw material procurement. There is no need to worry about sales problems at all, and they are completely underwritten by Zhouji.

The green brick workshop has fired the first kiln hollow bricks, as Ma Deyu expected, the firing time has been shortened by half, the material has been reduced by forty, and the cost of hollow bricks has been greatly reduced. The only drawback is that the strength is not as good as that of solid green bricks, as long as it is not in the load-bearing part, the strength is enough. Cement tests have been carried out many times, and the strength has been improved again and again, and it is estimated that products similar to modern cement will soon be tested.

In the open space next to Hejia Village, a large number of simple shacks have been erected for the victims of the disaster. The first batch of 5,000 victims has been resettled in this shack, and thousands of workers have been accepted in the soap mill, the brick mill, and the cement mill.

Yu Deshui was one of the first victims of the disaster, with a family of five, Yu Deshui and his wife, two children, and a father in his 50s. Yu Deshui was assigned to work in the soap factory, and on the first day, he received five buckets of food with one stone, and the family happily ate a full meal.

After the meal, my father said to Deshui: "I heard that He Lichang's family can earn 80 yuan a day by taking short-term jobs to work in the fields." I'm going to ask someone my age tomorrow if they want it. ”

"Dad, you're old, just rest at home. I have three taels of silver a month in the soap shop, and I have heard that a skilled worker can earn four taels of silver, which is enough to feed a family of three. Yu Deshui said to his father with confidence.

"If you can earn more, you can earn more, I think it's good here, and we'll settle here in the future." I heard from the people in the village that in the future, the village will build a new tiled house, and it can be bought for 100 taels of silver. Let's save a little more money and buy a new house to live in in a few years. The father said to his son.

Yu Deshui's daughter-in-law, Jia Shi, also said: "I have also heard about this, and I have also heard that a school hall is being built in this village, and children can go to school in the future." ”

"How can our family have the money to let the babies go to school? It's nice to have a full meal. Yu Deshui replied.

"I heard that you don't need money to go to school."

"Don't want money?" The father and son asked at the same time: "Is there such a good thing in the world?" ”

"Yes, I didn't believe it at first, but then I went to inquire about the people in this village. They all say so. ”

The old father was so happy that he burst into tears and said excitedly, "Our family has come to a good place." Tomorrow I will go to work part-time to save more money and live in a new house sooner. ”

In this shack, more than 1,000 families of the victims have ignited new hope for life, and have more expectations and yearning for this land.

These simple peasants have been like this since ancient times, and as long as there is a stable environment and a little hope is given to them, they will burst into vitality and will not be long before a peaceful and prosperous world will be created.

On the seventh day of June, it was a good day to move to a new house, and He Shaoyun and Zhou Xuhai's family happily moved into the new house. The courtyards of the two houses are next to each other, and in front of the courtyard is a small garden, about three or four acres of land. The garden is full of green trees, green grass, small bridges and flowing water, and winding paths. The courtyard of each family covers an area of more than three acres, and the main hall, study, partial room, kitchen room, stable, gatehouse and so on are all available in the courtyard.

Moving to a new house, Mrs. Zhou went out for the first time and came to Hejia Village. There were more than 20 people, including servants, maids, coachmen, and old mothers. The whole courtyard immediately came alive. The main purpose of Mrs. Zhou's visit this time is to see He Zhiyuan, a kid who both father and daughter fancy him, where is so outstanding.

When Chen heard that Mrs. Zhou had arrived, he naturally took He Zhiyuan to Zhou's mansion as soon as possible.

When I saw He Zhiyuan for the first time, I found that he was only a half-sized boy, neither burly nor handsome. He is about 5 feet 5 inches tall, about the same height as his daughter. But considering his age, he will definitely grow taller in the future, so I don't care about his height. I just feel that the age difference with my daughter is a bit big.

However, Mrs. Zhou is a very easy-going person, and her thoughts will naturally not be seen by outsiders.

After He Zhiyuan respectfully greeted Mrs. Zhou, he stood beside his mother and said no more.

After the two women shushed for a while, the topic naturally turned to their children. Chen asked Mrs. Zhou: "Miss Zhou is really smart, have you ever been married?" ”

"Not yet, business has been busy in the past few years, and I haven't found a suitable person, so it's delayed when I come and go." Mrs. Zhou said casually.

Chen was happy when he heard it: "It's good that there is no marriage match, and my family Zhiyuan does not have a marriage match......

He Zhiyuan, who was standing next to him, sweated directly, thinking that if you ask someone's daughter, it's okay to ask, what are you doing with me? Similarly, Zhou Fuliu, who was accompanying her, was also extremely embarrassed, and her face was red with shame.

When He Zhiyuan was embarrassed, his family came to report that there was new progress in the cement workshop, and Master Ye asked him to take a look.

He Zhiyuan confessed to Mrs. Zhou as if he had been amnestied, left Zhou's mansion as if he had escaped, and followed his family to the cement workshop on the edge of the official road.

A test pavement has been paved with cement concrete in the workshop, and a wall has been pierced with cement. Master Ye said to He Zhiyuan: "Young master, you see that this is a pavement and a blue brick wall paved with newly tested cement. ”

He Zhiyuan walked to the cement pavement and tried it, the pavement was very hard and flat, and then looked at the wall, the exposed cement had solidified, and he broke the cement with his hands, which was also very strong.

"Well, it's pretty much what I expected. How many days has this road been built? ”

"It's been three days."

"Okay, it's solidified like this in three days, and that's qualified. Go to the tent and receive the silver. ”

When Master Ye heard that he could receive the silver, he cheered happily, and the workers around him also cheered.

After cheering, Master Ye said again: "Young master, we have mastered the ratio of raw materials for this cement, but this grinding powder is too laborious. It's hard to increase production in the future. ”

"This question, Young Master Ben has thought of it a long time ago. I have already told Lord Liang of Zhizhou that as long as the cement test is successful, we can build a large number of waterwheels on the side of the Shuhe River, and it will be much easier to grind powder with waterwheels. He Zhiyuan said a little proudly.

"It's still the young master who has a vision." Master Ye complimented.

"Now with animal power milling, how much does it cost to grind a hundred catties of cement?"

"About twenty wen." Master Ye calculated for a while and said. Then he continued: "Young master, when the cement mill is built in the future, a bookkeeper is needed to take care of the accounts." ”

"You don't need to worry about Mr. Ledger's affairs, after the mass production of cement, there will naturally be Mr. Ledger. The cost of 20 wen is still higher, and the cost will drop a lot when the powder is ground with a water wheel in the future. I'll give you another 500 workers in your workshop, and you will continue to produce cement first. He Zhiyuan advised.

Two days later, Liang Wensheng took Zhuang Zhimu, Han Si from the workshop, Liang Wenhui and a few guards to inspect Hejia Village in person. Zhou Xuhai, He Shaoyun, He Zhiyuan and the clan elders in the village went to both sides of the official road early in the morning to greet them.

After this kind of red tape greeting politeness, Liang Wensheng asked the others to disperse, leaving only Zhou Xuhai and He Shaoyun and his son to inspect everywhere.

They first went to the cement workshop, and when Liang Wensheng saw the black and gray powder, he asked He Zhiyuan in disbelief: "This is cement?" How does it work? ”

He Zhiyuan called a few workers and asked them to demonstrate on the spot. Then he said to Liang Wensheng: "My lord, this cement needs to be mixed with water in proportion to the sand, and it can be used." ”

Liang Wensheng looked at the cement mixed with water and asked, "Such a soft and mud-like thing is extremely hard when it dries?" ”

"That's true. Please take a look here, adults. Saying that, He Zhiyuan led the way to the test road, stepped on the road and said: "This is the road paved with cement." Adults can try this pavement. ”

Liang Wensheng first stepped on the cement pavement and tried it, and it was as hard as a stone. He asked the guards to take a knife and slash it twice.

The guard picked up the steel knife and slashed it down, only to hear a "dang" sound, and sparks shot out. The guard felt that the hand holding the sword was numb, and the knife seemed to be struck by a stone. There was only a white knife mark on the road, and the steel knife had cracked a few gaps. The guard was not convinced, and slashed twice, but it was still the same.

Liang Wensheng saw that the road was so hard, and muttered, "That's really the case." Then he ordered the servant to bring a bucket of water and splash it on the road. After a while, I asked the guards to split the road again, and it turned out to be the same.

The accompanying officials and officials were amazed and praised one after another.

Liang Wensheng completely believed it this time, and asked again: "What raw materials is this cement made of?" How much does it cost? ”

"Cement raw materials are common materials, such as limestone, clay, cinder, gypsum, etc., the price is very cheap, and the biggest problem now is that grinding is time-consuming and laborious. The current cost is 20 yuan per 100 catties, and if the powder is ground with a water wheel, it is estimated that it can be reduced by about half. ”

Liang Wensheng heard that the cost was so low, and happily said to everyone: "This is really a treasure compared to mud." If you use it to build roads, the road surface is flat and hard, and the carriage can move smoothly on it, and you don't have to worry about the rain and snow causing the road to be muddy in the future. ”

"My lord, cement can not only be used to build roads, but also a good material for building houses and repairing cities." He Zhiyuan replied, and after speaking, he guided a group of officials to the wall and said, "My lord, please see, this wall is built with blue bricks and cement. ”

Liang Wensheng pushed it a few times with both hands in the past, and the wall had already become a whole, and there was no way to push it. He said: "If the city wall is made of cement and blue bricks, so strong, the sword will not hurt it in the slightest, even if it is dismantled with tools, it will be a lot more laborious, and there will be no need to worry about the enemy attacking the city." This is really a weapon of the country, I want to write a report to the court, so that the cement can be promoted as soon as possible, and it is also a great blessing to the soldiers and people on the border. ”

Liang Wensheng touched the wall and said with emotion, and suddenly he found that many green bricks were hollow! He was surprised and asked suspiciously, "Huh?" Why is this brick hollow? ”