At this time, it was noon, and although the heavy snow had passed, there was still a little cold lingering in the air in Linzi City under the cover of snow.

Tian Jian felt a little irritated when he touched the "Examination of the Work Record" that Qi Guo had admired for a long time, most of the records on it were about the production methods of pottery, cars, and other items, and he knew very little about the raw materials, especially the things he wanted to find.

The birds outside the window did not stop, taking advantage of the rare warmth of noon and began to chirp in bursts.

"Your Highness, Your Highness, found it, found it." The prisoner shouted outside.

Tian Jian hurriedly put down the bamboo slip in his hand, and ran out without putting on his shoes, only to see a huge piece of marble placed in the middle of the courtyard. There were six servants around the marble, and it seemed that they had just moved it.

This marble is about the size of an urn.

Seeing the marble, Tian Jian breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and yesterday he boasted that if he wanted to make Tian Fazhang and the minister of the full hall believe in himself within seven days, then he must need one thing, and that is cement!

Yes, it is cement, which is very common in later generations, in the Warring States Period, although the best cement cannot be made, but even if it is inferior cement, relying on the characteristics of cement, in just a few months, he is still confident in the construction of the most sophisticated defense project in the world.

So what do you want marble for?

Marble is a metamorphic rock formed by the original rocks in the earth's crust through the action of high temperature and high pressure in the earth's crust, and the internal force of the earth's crust promotes the process of qualitative change of the original rocks. Qualitative change refers to the change of the structure, structure and mineral composition of the original rock, and the new rock type formed by the qualitative change is called metamorphic rock.

Marble, also known as marble, is a recrystallized limestone whose main component is CaCO?. The limestone softens under the pressure of the blue sea of high-temperature high-characteristic marble, and recrystallizes to form marble when the minerals contained change.

Yes, the main component of marble is caco3, which is traditionally called limestone, and there are many magazines of marble, and it takes a few projects to get pure caco3.

Originally, he wanted lime, but it was difficult to find lime for a while, so he had to use the most stupid method to make lime using chemical changes.

The chemical formula of the so-called lime is cao, that is, quicklime, and slaked lime is caco3, according to the chemical change, cao+co2==caco3, the condition is in high temperature, and the air contains carbon dioxide, so the carbon dioxide thing can be saved.

With sweat on his face, the prisoner took a few breaths and asked, "Your Highness, what are you doing at this time!" ”

Tian Jian smiled slightly, pointed to the marble and said, "If it is useful, you will break this stone into powder." ”

"Powder?" The prison is a little dizzy, it's not impossible, but how many days?

"Burn it with a big fire and then pour it with cold water, and the boulder will be easily crushed." Tian Jian reminded.

The truth of thermal expansion and cold contraction has not been mastered at this time, and of course it is a fool's dream to open a mountain and take stones, in this era, the creation of explosives, at most, is like fireworks, just set off!

No master who is proficient in chemistry can do this on his own, and as the head of a country, he has to be careful in everything he does, and this kind of uncertain thing is not allowed to happen.

"Yes, Your Highness." The supervisor nodded in reply.

With a wave of his hand, some servants came, and they set fire around the marble.

After the fire had passed, there were servants carrying wooden barrels and pouring water on the boulders.

There was a click, a few clicks, and the marble shattered into several large pieces.

Everyone looked very strange, but they didn't dare to ask His Royal Highness the Prince, they could only infer that the prince was born noble and must have divine power to help.

"Beat these into powder." Tian Jian reminded.

The crowd did not hesitate, and it took an hour or so before these things were knocked into powder.

In fact, in ancient China, the ancients used lime as a building material very early. Take the Great Wall in the pre-Qin period, for example, it was built in sections, first one part of lime with very little water, mixed with two parts of sand and small stones, poured into the middle of two layers of wooden planks, and then used a mallet to ram the mixture between the wooden planks until it was strong, and then poured water on it. After two or three days, when the mixture has solidified, the planks can be removed and moved to another section for reconstruction.

The Great Wall built in this way is naturally not comparable with modern concrete, and it may be weathered and collapsed after a long time, and we have not seen the relatively complete Great Wall of Qin so far.

But it is not only the ancient Chinese who can use lime as a building material, in ancient Egypt in the construction of pyramids, ancient Rome in the construction of cities used lime, they mixed sand in the slimy slaked lime, so that this mixture in the air sucked carbon dioxide, into hard calcium carbonate, so as to firmly bond bricks and gravel together.

The ancient Romans also creatively used volcanic ash as a building material. Volcanic ash mainly contains silicate material, which is a fine powder of underground lava and is not induration in itself. However, the careful ancient Romans discovered that if volcanic ash was mixed with lime and clay and poured with water, it was a very adhesive building material. Moreover, the material hardens even in water and can be used for underwater construction. Unfortunately, volcanoes do not occur everywhere and erupt every day, and volcanic ash is very limited after all, so the most used building material is still lime. It is inconceivable that this building material, which seems very rudimentary to the eyes of today, could shine in the hands of the ancient Romans. Such as the Pantheon built in ancient Rome at the beginning of the 2nd century AD. The temple base is round. With a diameter of 43 meters as the height of the dome above the ground, such a long-span vault is remarkable even today.

But in the country of Qi, where is there volcanic ash that can be used as building materials! However, the main component of volcanic ash is caco3, that is, hydrated lime, in nature, the existence of calcium is the most, in the earth's crust, the content of calcium exceeds 20%, in nature, you can see the existence of calcium everywhere, just like the marble used in field construction, although it contains a lot of impurities, but after calcination, you can make the original marble cao, that is, calcium oxide under the action of carbon dioxide to become hydrated lime, the chemical equation is co2 + cao o = caco3, The conditions are high.

However, only lime and cement cannot be successfully manufactured, and the cement production process is divided into the following two parts.

1. Raw meal preparation includes the process from raw material crushing to ingredient blending to meet the requirements. First, enough limestone with high purity is prepared, and then water-containing raw materials such as clay should be dried and then sent into the mill in proportion to limestone, iron ore, etc., and ground into fine raw meal.

2. Clinker calcination: The prepared raw meal is calcined into cement clinker in different types of kilns. This requirement can be done in the kiln where the pottery is fired, and the temperature of the kiln where the pottery is fired can reach several thousand degrees Celsius. Generally, raw meal powder or raw meal slurry is calcined in the rotary kiln, and a series of physical and chemical changes occur in the process of heating the cement raw meal in the kiln, such as the evaporation of free water, the removal of crystal water from clay, and the decomposition of calcium carbonate into calcium oxide.

The latter reacts with the solid phase of silica, alumina and iron ore in the clay to form compounds, and there are four main forms of their existence, namely tricalcium silicate (3CaO· SiO2, abbreviated as C3S), dicalcium silicate (2CaO· SiO2, abbreviated as C2S), tricalcium aluminate (3CaO· AI2O3, abbreviated as C2A) and tetracalcium ferroaluminate (4CaO· Al2O3· Fe2O3, abbreviated as C4AF). There are also small amounts of uncombined calcium oxide and galcite (MgO). Sometimes there are sulfates, titanates, etc., but in smaller quantities.

Since the clinker also contains other oxides, the above compounds do not exist in a pure state, and often have various other oxides in solid solution. Therefore, they are named according to the mineral phase (i.e., the crystalline phase), such as tricalcium silicate called alit, which accounts for more than 50% of the clinker; Dicalcium silicate is called belite, which contains about 25%; Tricalcium aluminate is aluminate; Iron and aluminum tetracalcium is called Cailit.

But how can modern craftsmanship be compared with the pre-Qin period?

However, there is an example that is worth learning from Tian Jian.

In 1756, a lighthouse in the Channel Islands of England was suddenly destroyed by fire. It's a terrible thing, you know, it's the most important lighthouse at the southern end of the English Channel, without it. To influence the navigation of countless ships. The British government ordered engineer Smirton to rebuild the lighthouse as quickly as possible.

Smithton immediately ordered the limestone to be transported to the island where the lighthouse was located, so that the limestone from the island could be burned and rebuilt from the island. Smithton has completed similar projects on several occasions and is confident that the rebuilding will be completed on time. Two weeks later. The limestone arrived, and Smithton rushed to the unloading dock in high spirits. When he saw these limestones sent across the mountains and seas, he couldn't help but exclaim: "It's really unlucky, why is this stone black!" It's mixed with too much soil, isn't it a joke to build a high-standard lighthouse with this raw material?" But. Time does not allow for the transfer of high-quality limestone. Smithton had no choice but to use these inferior raw materials for firing.

Unexpectedly, Smilton was a blessing in disguise. The lime burned from this batch of limestone was surprisingly good, and the stone was cemented so strong that when the overseer informed Smith of the unexpected result, he jumped in surprise: "Ah, God Almighty is protecting me!" Then he calmed down again; There is a famous hall in this lime, and you need to check it. Smithton immediately examined the limes and found them to be impure, containing up to about 20 percent clay.

Yes, cement, cement originated precisely because of the presence of clay.

Therefore, Tian Jian has to make cement according to the most primitive method, using caCO3 and clay with relatively high purity, and then making clay according to a series of changes.

.......

Three days later, after dozens of failures, Tian Jian finally produced cement, which was exceptionally strong, and although it was more solid than many stones, it could be produced without limitation.

Moreover, under the experience of more precise management, its cost will be greatly reduced, in this era of common use of soil to make city walls, think about the city wall made of cement, Tian Jian felt a sense of excitement.

Linzi Qi Palace, the platform of the road, the early dynasty.

"Now that the seven-day period has arrived, I wonder if Your Highness can explain to the king and the ministers how to make a fortified city." Mink Bo said to Tian Jianyi.

As the prince's concubine, Mink Bo knew Tian Jian's practice in the past seven days early on, and also knew the big killer of "cement", this time it was purely a move to build momentum for the prince.

Tian Jian smiled indifferently and said to Tian Fazhang: "Father, Jian'er has been completed, please take a look at it." ”

"Oh?" Tian Fazhang was surprised, as his father, of course he hoped that his heir would come out, but he couldn't help but go out in the past seven days, and what he was afraid of was disappointment.

Now, his crown prince told himself that he was sure that he could not like it.

"But what is it?" Tian Fazhang asked.

Tian Jian thought about it for a while, and he definitely couldn't use the common name "cement" to call it, otherwise it was written in the history books: Prince Jian invented cement in Qi State. What a bargain it seems.

"Father, the son invented a thing, and this thing is called 'concrete'." Tian Jianzheng said.

"Concrete?" The ministers of the court immediately discussed and did not understand what they meant.

"Dare to ask Your Highness, what is concrete?" Tian Dan took the lead and asked first.

Tian Jian had a confident smile on his face, and said: "The so-called concrete, in which 'mix' is taken from the ancient mixed yuan, there are three emperors ruling the world, 'condensation' is the meaning of surprise, all things are condensed, and the 'soil' is taken from the concrete itself. ”

Tian Dan didn't know how to feel it, and he suddenly felt depressed in his heart, this sentence is too difficult to understand, so I am fortunate that you can take it up and let us take a look, so he said: "Please take it in front of the palace and take a look." ”

"The prince will take this... Mix... Take a look at the concrete. Tian Fazhang stammered and said, what a broken name! Concrete, such a terrible name.

......

Everyone saw this thing strange and illegal, gray and delicate, it looked like a stone, but it was not a stone.

"This is concrete?" Tian Fazhang asked.

"Yes, Father, it is inexpensive to make, and can be made of lime, clay, and sand, and can be made into any shape, and it is not inferior to stone. What's more, this thing can be both fire and water. It only takes a day or two for the concrete to set again. Tian Jian replied.

"It's so magical, it's really a weapon for the country." Tian Fazhang muttered, but after a while he said again: "But this concrete is so ugly that the widow thinks of a good name, simple and easy to understand. ”

"Father, please give me a name." Tian Jianyi bowed.

"Let's call it cement!" Tian Fazhang said.

"Cement?" Tian Jian's heart suddenly had 10,000 grass and mud horses galloping by, why couldn't this name be changed? How tall the "concrete" is, the Three Emperors! Amazement!

Seeing Tian Jian stunned, Tian Fazhang laughed and said, "But the prince was stunned by the name given to the widow?" ”