When he arrived at the workshop, Mao Boyi brought out the flower pots made of cement.

This is Su Ziheng asked him to make calcined cement into flower pots according to different test formulas, on the one hand, it is convenient to see the effect of cement, and on the other hand, these flower pots can be used to plant ornamental flowers and trees.

At this time, the soil method in the workshop is only ordinary cement, such as Portland cement, slag Portland cement, porosyl Portland cement, fly ash Portland cement, and composite Portland cement, etc., limited to conditions, as well as some of Su Ziheng's careful thoughts, have not yet been made.

The quality of ordinary cement mainly depends on the strength growth, setting and hardening time, water leakage rate and shelf life. The shelf life time is not visible for the time being, this needs to be verified for a long time, and the strength growth and condensation hardening time are easy to compare through the test to get the results.

Generally speaking, the fineness of cement is coarse, and the strength of yellowing and whitishness is low; The quality of cement that cannot be set for more than 12 hours, that is, more than 6 hours, is not good.

Through these simple judgments, Su Ziheng found that in Mao Boyi's experiment, the cement flower pot marked No. 3 barely reached the standard of six hours to solidify, and the others basically took seven or eight hours to solidify.

Su Ziheng instructed: "Uncle Mao, for the time being, it will be manufactured according to the formula of No. 3 cement, and at the same time, the test cannot be relaxed, and strive to increase the solidification time to less than five hours; In terms of strength, it cannot be relaxed, and it cannot be easily cracked in one dozen, and the cement made in this way is useless. ”

Mao Boyi nodded on one side, "Don't worry, master, we will definitely not relax and will continue to study." But......" He turned his head to look in the direction of the Zhongfu craftsman, and stopped talking.

Su Ziheng laughed silently: "Uncle Mao, for the time being, let's do this first." When they're gone, I'll give you a few new recipes to experiment with. ”

"Hey!" Mao Boyi happily agreed.

"Uncle Mao, do we still have extra bricks in our workshop? I want to build a new kiln. ”

Originally, Su Ziheng planned to use a kiln for calcining cement to burn glass, but later after reading the encyclopedia about the production method of glass, he realized that he seemed to be thinking too simply.

Moreover, the cement test cannot be stopped, and the kiln needs to be continuously opened to burn the cement. In this case, it is better to simply build a new furnace.

Mao Boyi thought about it carefully, and replied cautiously: "Master, when I built the furnace last time, although there was a lot leftover, I am afraid it is not enough to build another one that is about the same size as this one." ”

Su Ziheng said: "It doesn't need to be too big, it's also used for testing for the time being." Or you arrange for a few people who had experience last time to start building first, and then buy a batch back when you don't have enough. ”

Mao Boyi nodded, Su Ziheng looked left and right again, and said in a low voice: "Try not to let the Zhong family know about this matter, if anyone asks, just say that it is better to build a kiln to burn cement, and don't reveal it to have new uses." ”

Although he has a good relationship with Zhong Qinghan now, he doesn't have much deep relationship with the Zhong family. The recipe for being able to give them a copy of cement is already benevolent and righteous, and the production of glass still has to be pinched in their own hands.

……

……

From Xining City to Sujiazhuang, you have to pass a high hill.

While driving, Zhong Qinghan suddenly felt that the speed of the carriage had slowed down, and finally stopped and stopped moving forward, "Tieshan, what's wrong, why don't you leave?" ”

Tie Shan swallowed his saliva with difficulty, and he, who had always been very steady, said for the first time: "Little, miss, you can come out and take a look for yourself." ”

Zhong Qinghan lifted the curtain, stood on the carriage wheel, followed the direction pointed by Tie Shan, looked up, and saw a dark cloud in the middle of the air in the distance.

Her face suddenly changed, and she naturally knew that it was not a dark cloud, but a locust!

The plague of locusts is finally here!

Zhong Qinghan turned his head and instructed the few Black Crow Army guards accompanying him, "You guys go back to the city quickly, notify the government and the family, and say that the locusts have arrived." ”

At that moment, several Black Crow Army guards clasped their fists on their horses, and said in a deep voice: "Obey, Grand Commander." With a flick of the war horse under his crotch, he galloped away in the direction of Xining City.

Zhong Qinghan took a deep breath and calmly ordered: "Tieshan, hurry up and rush to Sujiazhuang." ”

"Whoa!"

When Zhong Qinghan returned to the carriage and sat down, Tie Shan shook the reins of the carriage and shouted, "Drive!" ”

The carriage pulled by the two tall horses suddenly picked up speed and rushed all the way towards Sujiazhuang.

……

……

Hearing that Zhong Qinghan had arrived, Su Ziheng stopped talking to Mao Boyi, hurried to the outside, and said with a smile: "Miss Qinghan, how can you have time to come to the workshop today?" ”

Zhong Qinghan couldn't greet Su Ziheng, and said eagerly: "Master Su, locusts are coming soon. Is everything in place on your estate? ”

Su Ziheng's eyes froze, they finally came, they had been busy with the workshop and livestock trading in the past few days, and they really didn't care much about the locusts.

He said in a deep voice: "The manor has been arranged, and the crops that should be harvested have been harvested early. I hadn't been here for a long time, and I hadn't grown too many crops, but I didn't know what the arrangement was in the village. ”

Zhong Qinghan said: "I have ordered the accompanying guards to go to various villages to inform, presumably there will be time to react before the locust plague arrives." ”

After a pause, she asked, "Master Su, after the locust plague arrives, does the workshop have to stop?" ”

Su Ziheng nodded and said, "It's best to stop, safety first." Even if it doesn't stop, after the locusts arrive, it is not convenient to transport all kinds of raw materials in. The most important thing is the cement formula test, and a more ideal formula has been found, which can almost be put into stable production. ”

Zhong Qinghan's face was happy, "That's really good, I'm afraid this is the best news I've heard in the past few days." ”

Su Ziheng chuckled: "Later, I will arrange for the following craftsmen to send a copy of the formula to you to take back, how to produce it, I believe that Uncle De has been very familiar with it in the few days he has been here." ”

Zhong Qinghan said: "Even if Uncle De still has something that he can't grasp, isn't there still you, just invite you over to the scene for guidance when the time comes." ”

Su Ziheng shook his head helplessly, and said with a wry smile: "That's okay." It's just that when expanding the scale of production, it is best not to start several furnaces at the same time, but to start a kiln for trial production first, and see if the cement manufactured is up to standard? When it is confirmed that there is no problem, it is not too late to roll it out. ”

Zhong Qinghan said: "Listen to you, when I go back, I will arrange for someone to choose a suitable location outside the city to build a cement mill, and you must come to give you some guidance when the time comes." ”

Su Ziheng said casually: "This is no problem. It's just that the construction of the cement mill should also be after the locust plague, right? I don't know how long this locust plague will last, but if it lasts too long, I'm afraid it will cause a catastrophe. ”

Now there are a large number of displaced people outside the city, if the locust plague causes a large number of displaced people, if the government does not provide relief, the common people cannot eat, and cannot survive, it is very likely that they will take extreme roads, such as rebellion!

Zhong Qinghan shook his head, "I don't know about this, disaster relief has always been the responsibility of the government." My Xiliang Mansion is only responsible for fighting, if someone really rebels, I can't say that I will also arrange the Black Crow Army to suppress it. ”

“……”

Su Ziheng was silent for a while.