It seems that when he was attacked in the porridge shed last year, my father didn't speak on his face, but he kept thinking about it in his heart.

Zhu Shun stuffed the dog chain back again, and said a whisper to dispel his father's concerns: "Dad, there are people in Jinyi by my side, and there will be no accidents." ”

When Zhu Zhongren heard this, he laughed even more happily, who has never heard of the name of Jinyiwei, with them to protect his son's safety, the Jurchen Tartars can't hurt their son when they come.

After chatting a few words, the two walked to the round kiln together.

The kiln was built very simply, surrounded by a low earthen wall, and the inside was empty, with a row of thatched huts built on the edge and a round kiln in the middle.

Zhu Shun and his father walked along the dirt road, walked closer, and saw the ancient kiln for the first time.

The round kiln looks like a steamed bun, about five meters high, four meters wide on the left and right, and about three meters long at the front and back.

There is a kiln door on the front of the round kiln that leads to the kiln chamber inside, and two chimneys at the back that emit billowing smoke.

There are several sheds around the round kiln, in which the raw materials such as limestone, clay, and coal are placed.

Zhu Shun looked at the round kiln with billowing smoke and asked, "Dad, how is the cement firing?" ”

At the mention of this incident, Zhu Zhongren, an outsider, began to frown again: "The cement you mentioned son, is very similar to a mixture of lime and volcanic ash, and my father used to help people burn that kind of thing in a private kiln. ”

"It's just that the cement is more difficult to fire, and I've only figured out a little bit of firing so far, so let's show you a demonstration, and you can see where you still need to improve."

Zhu Zhongren handed over the dog chain in his hand to his son, took off the purple cloth placket on his body, replaced it with a linen placket, and began to burn cement.

Let the potter extinguish the fire and wait for the temperature inside to drop.

Zhu Zhongren, an outsider, took advantage of this time to start preparing materials, bringing two baskets of limestone and clay, which were crushed, batched, and ground finely to make raw meal.

The raw meal is ready, and when the temperature is almost lower, a potter puts the raw meal into the cement kiln and starts calcining.

When the kiln fire is lit, a stream of flame quickly sprays from the fire chamber to the top of the kiln, and then pours to the bottom of the kiln, forming a flowing fire cover that envelops the raw meal.

The flue gas produced by the combustion of coal enters the two chimneys from the suction holes at the bottom of the back wall and exits the round kiln.

This step is the most critical step, and it is also the key point that has never been able to break through.

First of all, I don't know how long it will take, it takes to try again and again, and there is the temperature problem of the cement kiln, just like firing porcelain, the temperature is high or low, and the porcelain cannot be fired.

The specific temperature of how high to fire cement is also a key point that has not been able to break through.

For several months, the firing time and temperature were different every time, and the temperature was not the same, which was to explore a suitable time and temperature.

There was a leak next to the cement kiln, and Zhu Zhongren stared at the time seriously, and when the time was almost up, he asked the kiln worker to extinguish the kiln fire, and took out the clinker after the temperature was lowered.

Zhu Zhongren poured the clinker on the ground, let it cool thoroughly, added an appropriate amount of gypsum and water, and began to stir the clinker.

It's almost done, and it's placed on the dirt floor to see if it solidifies.

Zhu Shun stood next to him and waited, waiting for two incense sticks, the clinker was still viscous, and there was no intention to solidify together, it seemed that it had failed again.

Zhu Shun didn't take it to heart, the research and development of any scientific and technological product is like this, and it takes countless experiments to exchange for a possibility: "Dad, is the silver in the kiln factory enough?" ”

When it came to silver, Zhu Zhongren's mood was even worse: "Son, what's the use of us firing this thing, not to mention that we can't make money, we have to lose more than 200 taels of silver every month." ”

"As long as we change to fired porcelain, with my father's craftsmanship, I dare not say anything else, at least four hundred taels of silver a year."

Daddy's words mean that the silver should not be enough, too, a total of 800 taels of silver was given to Daddy, and it cost 180 taels to build the kiln, and 600 taels were burned in three months, and there is not much left.

Zhu Shun was busy building a steam engine during this time, and he didn't calculate the family property, but now that he has calculated carefully, he is short of money again, and he is very short.

Zhu Shun has a total of three industries in his hands, Zhu's Spinning Factory, Zhu's Cement Factory, and Beiping Machinery Bureau.

The Beiping Machinery Bureau just started to create, and when the Machinery Bureau was officially on the right track, it could not make a profit for a long time, because the money earned needed to be returned to those coal kiln owners.

Zhu's cement plant is currently developing cement, which requires a large amount of research and development funds, and is currently the largest money-swallowing hole.

The only one that can make a profit is the Zhu Spinning Factory, with the current scale of the Zhu Spinning Factory, it can earn about 400 taels of silver a month, and if it is replaced by water power, it will earn more.

But with the current drought situation, only manpower can be used, and the silver earned is fixed at about 400 taels.

Half of the 400 taels of silver will be allocated to the cement factory, and the remaining 200 taels of silver will be taken out and 50 taels will be given to Zhang Tao.

The fitters of the Beiping Machinery Bureau want to pay a monthly salary, a large family has to eat, and various inventions of the Beijing Normal University Hall also need silver, no wonder the father wants to rebuild the old house, and has not been able to realize this long-cherished wish.

Because there is really no money at home.

Zhu Shun asked for money to build ten steam engines a few months ago, and it is estimated that the family foundation has been emptied, but he didn't expect his mother to take it out without saying a word.

Zhu Shun handed over the dog chain to his father, and in order to make his father feel at ease to burn money, he said indifferently: "This money is nothing, when this cement is fired, you can earn two hundred taels of silver a day." ”

Can you earn two hundred taels a day? Well, that's okay.

Zhu Zhongren, an outsider, threw the dog chain casually and scolded enthusiastically: "What are you doing here, don't hurry up and burn cement." ”

Zhu Shun was relieved to see that his father was so enthusiastic, and went back to find a way to make money.

At the beginning of summer, Zhang Tao, who was building a steam engine, suddenly came back, saying that he was going out.

In a few days, it will be the third year of Zhang Tao's master's sacrifice, Zhang Tao, as a disciple who has kowtowed and sent a bundle, will go to Xi'an Mansion to worship his master, otherwise it will be a big unfilial piety.

Without saying a word, Zhu Shun took over the matter of building a steam engine and asked him to hurry to pay tribute to his master.

In addition, he was given an extremely important matter, no matter what method he used, he must invite his mentor Wang Zheng over.

The Sanhuaitang Wang family is in Jingyang County, Xi'an Prefecture, and it can be regarded as a squire with a good status, because Wang Zheng needs to be worried about filial piety in front of his father's grave, and the affairs of the Sanhuaitang Wang family are handed over to a small uncle.

This little clan uncle and Wang Zheng's kinship is neither close nor far, but because his seniority is big enough, it stands to reason that he can only hand over the clan affairs to him.

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