"The last general, Hu Qiong, see the lord." After receiving the report from his subordinates, Hu Qiong immediately came to Guo Qi's side to report.

"No courtesy." Guo Qi said to Hu Qiong with a smile: "I've worked hard for you this time, how is the current progress?" ”

"My lord, at present, the city walls of the north and south cities have been built almost a zhang, and at this rate, the city walls can be completed in two months at most." Hu Qiongyu reports.

"Let's go to the city walls."

"Lord, please ......"

Under the leadership of Hu Qiong, Guo Qi came to the city wall that was being built, which was slightly different from the city wall built by Yongcheng, first of all, the rammed earth inside the city wall was replaced by a mixture of soil and sand and gravel, which was all made of soil and sand and gravel on both sides of the river, and now it is the dry season in winter, there are a large number of silt and sand and gravel on both sides of the river, and they will be roasted by fire after they are dug out, and all the seeds and insect eggs in it will be killed, and then they can be used to ram the city wall.

Wrapped outside the city wall is no longer blue bricks, but a strip of bluestone, these big bluestones are all removed from the city wall of Huangyuan City, so the city wall of the same specification, due to the different building materials used in Yongcheng, the city wall of Wangyang Pass is stronger than the Yongcheng wall.

Guo Qi walked to the bottom of the city wall and saw that the craftsman was plastering the good limestone on the lower layer of bluestone, and then commanded to use the hanging tower (Note 1) to lift another piece of bluestone on the ground and place it smoothly on the limestone, so that the upper and lower two staggered bluestones could be tightly glued together.

Just as the craftsman was about to build the next piece, Guo Qi suddenly shouted, "Wait a minute." ”

Then Guo Qi boarded the tripod, walked to the side of the blue-striped stone that had just been laid, touched it with his hand and said, "Master, it's so cold this day, I'm afraid this lime mud is very difficult to do!" ”

"What the prince said is that it's okay during the day, but there will be ice slag at night." The craftsman said.

"How can this work, the mud can't be dried, how can it be bonded to live in two layers of bluestone?"

"This ......" Faced with Guo Qi's question, the craftsman consciousness directly did not know how to answer.

The passage craftsman couldn't answer, Guo Qi turned around and walked down from the shelf, and said to Hu Qiong: "Hu Qiong ordered that all the craftsmen who built the city stop working. ”

"Lord, this ......"

"It's so cold, the mud has not dried up and it has frozen slag, how can you bond two layers of bluestone into one." Guo Qi said with a sad face: "If this problem can't be solved, no matter how high this city is, it will collapse." ”

"It was the negligence of the last general, and the last general ordered the work to be stopped." Hu Qiong said in fear.

"I don't blame you, after all, you're not a craftsman, hurry up and do it!"

"No! This will be arranged. ”

Guo Qi ordered a huge construction site, immediately stopped, of course, it was not a complete shutdown, the craftsmen who rammed the construction continued, but the craftsmen who built the bluestone stopped, and Guo Qi also ordered that if someone can come up with an idea to solve this problem, he will be directly promoted to the first level of the knighthood and rewarded with a hundred taels of gold; In the face of such a heavy reward, everyone racked their brains to think about this question.

But until nightfall, no one came up with a solution, which is why the ancients did not build the city in winter, until the current rural winter did not build a house, winter construction is not only because of the high cost, but also because the water is easy to freeze, cement can not achieve the best bonding effect.

"Lord, the meal is ready, let's eat!" Li Wu walked in directly with a small pot, and there was a small stove underneath.

"What is this? Why did you even bring the pot? Guo Qi glanced up at Li Wu and asked.

"There was nothing to do this afternoon, the brothers went hunting in the surrounding hills, caught a few robes, and stewed them outside in a large pot; I was afraid that it would be cold on the way to the end, so I prepared a small stove. Li Wuhan said with a smile.

"You kid really hurts me!" Guo Qi smiled, and suddenly Guo Qi focused his eyes on the stove below, and said to himself: "Stove, stove, ......"

"Lord, what's wrong with this furnace?"

"Ha, ha, ha, ha...... Ben Wang thought of a way. Guo Qi suddenly laughed and said: "Fifth son, go and find Hu Qiong and the master who is responsible for building the city wall to this king." ”

"No!" Li Wu didn't dare to slack off, and immediately took the order and left.

"Meet the lord (prince)." Hu Qiong and the master in charge of building the wall entered the big tent and saluted Guo Qi.

"Both of you are exempt!"

"I wonder what the Lord has called us for?"

"This king has already thought of how to solve the problem of building the city, but he still needs to ask the master's opinion."

"The lord is old, and the old man is just a mason who can repair the city."

"Master is too modest, your experience is priceless!" Guo Qi said: "Master, this king has something unclear, you should know that it is not easy to build a city in this winter!" ”

"The old man really knows that it is the old man who is greedy for merit so he did not report it in time, please ask the lord to give him the sin." The master knelt on the ground and spoke.

"If you are willing to confess your sin, you have the heart to wake up; If this king is not mistaken, you were also responsible for building the city wall of Yongcheng, and you were also awarded the title of second-class maker, and you were the first people to receive the title. ”

The old master knelt on the ground and nodded.

"Now that you have confessed your sins, this king looks at the merits of the past, and for the sake of not causing serious consequences this time; This king spares your life, directly cuts off all titles, and retains the original position; If there is no problem with the repair of this city, this king will not only restore your title, but also give you another level, and if it collapses, he will directly bring the head to see you; Get up! ”

"No! Thank you. ”

"The king asks you, how did you get that lime mud that didn't freeze before it was built?"

"Lord Yu, all the water with lime mud is hot water, and the amount of water is small each time, and the bluestone has been put on before it freezes."

"I see." Guo Qi nodded and said: "Now talking about the problem of the city wall, the city wall is not going to freeze now, it is not easy to do it!" What this king means is that you will see if you can bake it with fire, and every day the wall that is repaired during the day will be baked directly with fire and dry. ”

"This is supposed to be okay, but the old man needs to try it to know if it works." The old man said.

"Okay, then try; Hu Qiong, you go and arrange to bake all the repaired city walls tonight......"

"No! But how much firewood does my lord need? ”

"You don't have to use firewood, you can use coal! Those of you who are below you should also use their brains more, and if they can come up with useful ideas, and improve the speed and quality of the construction of the city, this king will reward them heavily. ”

That night, Hu Qiong began to bake the city wall with people, because the lime plaster was not fully bonded before, after the fire baking, the city wall was deformed, and even a section of the city wall collapsed because of this, but fortunately there were no casualties.

Guo Qi ordered the punishment of all those responsible, and at the same time again ordered the reward to be doubled for those who contributed to the construction of the city, and under such a heavy reward, many craftsmen offered advice one after another; For example, the improvement of the construction tools, the improvement of the way of building the city, etc., has greatly improved the speed and quality of the construction of Huangyang Pass, of course, these are all later words.