The progress of the work in Huangzhuang is very fast, and even if you count the reconstruction of the original houses in the village, it is estimated that it will be completed in 1 to 2 months. Now that Huangzhuang has abundant manpower, the next water conservancy plan can be launched, but what materials will be used to build the reservoir is a problem.

The main thing for the Ming Dynasty to build the reservoir is the stone, but the labor required to dig these stones is a lot. Now there are only 2 Zhuangzi, and the crown prince Zhuangtian now has a total of 10 Zhuangzi, even with the current manpower, I don't know how long it will be built with stone. So Zhu Houwei decided to use a new building material, cement.

Zhu Houwei's childhood in his previous life was about the late 80s and early 90s, when there was a cement factory not far from the yard where they lived, and his father had also worked as a worker in the cement factory for several years. When he was a child, Zhu Houwei often went there to play, and he was very interested in cement. Children like to play with mud, and cement is a high-grade mud for them. Since childhood, Zhu Houwei has a better understanding of cement.

Zhu Houwei summoned two Zhuangzi and some craftsmen who had burned bricks and ceramics among the newcomers, and asked them to build a vertical kiln according to their own drawings.

Cement has been around for a long time, and the history of cement can be traced back to the mixture of lime and volcanic ash used in construction by the ancient Romans, which is very similar to modern lime pozzolana cement. Concrete made from cemented crushed stone is not only strong after hardening, but also resistant to fresh or salt water. However, there is no volcano near the capital, let alone volcanic ash, so this cement was abandoned by Zhu Houwei.

Zhu Houwei wants to make Portland cement. In 1824, Joseph Aspdin, a British construction worker, invented cement and patented Portland cement. He used limestone and clay as raw materials, combined in a certain proportion, calcined the mature material in a vertical kiln similar to burnt lime, and then ground it to make cement. It was named Portland Cement because its hardened color was similar to the stone used for construction in Portland, England Island.

Now the only difficulty in making this cement is the vertical kiln. The vertical kiln is not very difficult for the technology of the Ming Dynasty now, and it is rare how to operate the vertical kiln. Vertical kilns are characterized by low output, high cost, and difficult to operate. However, in this era, it is already the best choice, and now mechanical vertical kilns cannot be built at all, let alone various rotary kilns.

After half a month, the vertical kiln was finally built, in order not to cause serious pollution, Zhu Houwei built the vertical kiln far away from Huangzhuang. On the first day after it was manufactured, trial production began, but it was unsuccessful. Zhu Houwei was not discouraged, let the craftsmen familiarize themselves with the operation, check and repair the problems of the vertical kiln, and most importantly, be careful not to be injured.

The vertical kiln is almost 8 meters high, which is not short in the Ming Dynasty, and in the eyes of the people, the shape is also more strange, which makes people feel frightened, but this is something that the prince wants to build, and the workers who were recruited still gritted their teeth and began to grope for this strange thing.

The performance of the vertical kiln is naturally slowly explored by craftsmen, and Zhu Houwei is not worried that they will disappoint. The thief who burned the grain and grass that day was taken to the headquarters by Jinyiwei, and after "a series of greetings", the information obtained was not the same as last time. In the end, there were only 6 people left who could still breathe. Originally, they were going to go to Shishan to dig stones, but now they don't need it, Zhu Houwei thought about it, and then bought coal mines around the capital, and let the six people go to dig coal first. There were two brocade guards watching, and these 6 people couldn't make any trouble.

This mine is not very large, but part of it is an open-pit coal mine, which is more convenient to dig, and Zhu Houwei deliberately spent 50,000 taels to buy this mine. Zhu Houzhao was still a little reluctant, but Zhu Houwei persuaded him, "Now that the money is paid off at one time, even if you know that it is the property of Huangzhuang in the future, the hundred officials have nothing to say, after all, it was bought with real money." Zhu Houzhao reluctantly agreed.

Speaking of Zhu Houzhao, this time has been painful and happy. I went to Lao Li's house every day, and I also looked for an opportunity to talk to Bai Xiaode's daughter Bai Yulian, but I usually didn't get any good faces, and basically didn't respond. However, Zhu Houzhao was persevering, which made the little girl and Zhu Houwei blush for him.

Zhu Houzhao's love for the first time was not only seen by Zhu Houwei, but also by Bai Xiaode, and even the little girl saw that something was wrong. One day, the little girl hurriedly said to Zhu Houwei, "Second brother, second brother, what's wrong with the eldest brother recently, he always asks Sister Bai what she likes and what she hates, and asks me to send things to Sister Bai." Zhu Houwei laughed for a while, but the little girl asked a little worriedly, "Second brother, are you okay, can't you be sick?" Only then did Zhu Houwei stop laughing, smiled and asked the little girl, "Then did your sister Bai accept those things?" The little girl smiled and said, "No, Sister Bai gave it all to me, but it's all pastries in the palace or something, I'm tired of eating them." Zhu Houwei heard this and laughed again, the little girl looked at him with strange eyes, Zhu Houzhao stopped laughing, and said mysteriously to the little girl, "What do you want in the future, just tell the eldest brother and let him buy it and give it to you Sister Bai." The little girl's eyes lit up after hearing this, and the brother and sister looked at each other and laughed. This is Zhu Houwei who happened to walk into the room, and said a little depressedly, "What are you laughing at, I heard you laughing there from a long distance." Zhu Houwei saw his expression and knew that he had hit a wall with Bai Yulian again, and said to him with a smile, "I didn't laugh at anything." The little girl next to her also smiled and shook her hand, "Yes, I didn't laugh anything." But the eyes that looked at Zhu Houzhao were quite eager.

Zhu Houzhao still often sent things to Bai Yulian in the future, all of which were given to the little girl, but the items changed from dim sum in the palace to jewelry. Until one day, he saw a pair of emerald green bracelets that had been given to Bai Yulian on the little girl's hand, and his face fell, and the little girl looked at the eldest brother who had been staring at her hand, knowing that she had been discovered, she immediately pretended to be pitiful and innocent and looked at the eldest brother. Zhu Houzhao had no choice, he couldn't beat or scold this sister, so he had to say, "You wear it well, don't lose it." The little girl showed her little face in a second, took Zhu Houzhao's hand and said, "Big brother is so good to Er." Zhu Houzhao asked Cangtian speechlessly, just sighed.

Ten days after the first production of cement, the cement was finally produced smoothly through the unremitting efforts of the craftsmen. Since the new units of measurement are used in Huangzhuang, the quality of the cement produced continuously is good, and it is basically the same. Once the cement is made, then it is time to experiment. The craftsman just knew how to make the cement, and it was not clear what it would do. The experiment was ordered by Zhu Houwei and observed by the first-term students and craftsmen. The first is to use a planed plank, 1 meter long and 1 meter wide, and then fence it with a small plank next to it. The small planks are 20 centimeters in height, and then the cement mixed with water is poured into this semi-closed box, and finally the cement is smoothed, which is a set of test items. There are 5 groups in total, which are placed in different environments, such as directly in the sun, in the shade of trees, and so on. Then it is to record the time of the final setting of the cement.

By the next day, the results were obtained, and it was also a dry and hot place, and the faster the cement finally set. It took 7 hours, or three and a half hours, to finally set in the sun, and 8 hours in the shade of a tree. Since there was no clock in these years, European mechanical clocks had not yet been introduced to China, and the time could only be accurate to the minute, that is, half an hour.

The craftsman was amazed by the cement, and after looking at the cement and water, it became like mud, but in less than half a day, it became a solid object with a shape. Zhu Houwei asked a few craftsmen with relatively strong bodies to take a sledgehammer to smash the cement block that had been formed, but a big hammer smashed down, and the cement was just an extra white mark, not even a crack, Zhu Houwei was very satisfied with this result. With the current quality of cement, it is enough to build both reservoirs and roads. Zhu Houwei asked the craftsmen to experiment several more times to see if changing the proportion of raw materials could improve the quality of the cement, and after 10 days, select the best ratio and produce it in large quantities. At this time, the craftsmen all threw themselves to the ground on the five bodies that Zhu Houwei admired, patted their chests and said that as long as it was ordered by His Royal Highness, it would be done accurately.

After Zhu Houwei finished the experiment, he went directly to Lao Li's house to find Zhu Houzhao and the little girl. Before I got to the door, I heard a commotion in the courtyard. Zhu Houwei couldn't help but walk quickly to the gate, and as soon as he entered the gate, he saw a number of people standing in the courtyard, forming a circle around the yard, and kept clapping his hands, and the little girl shouted the loudest, "Sister Bai, left, left, oops, it's just a little bit." Zhu Houwei fixed his eyes and found that Bai Yulian and Bai Xiaode were fighting, only to see that the two of them intersected with their fists and feet, and the speed was extremely fast, mainly Bai Yulian was attacking, and Bai Xiaode was defusing it. Zhu Houwei didn't know how long it had been fighting, Bai Yulian had begun to gasp, and Bai Xiaode still looked at ease. At this time, Bai Yulian lunged slightly, leaned forward slightly, and hit Bai Xiaode's chest with her right palm, but saw Bai Xiaode's whole person flashing to Bai Yulian's right side, holding Bai Yulian's right wrist with her left hand, and turned around and came behind Bai Yulian, pulling her right hand straight to the back, and her right knee was on the back of Bai Yulian's right knee, Bai Yulian frowned, and was already kneeling on the ground with her right knee, and her left hand hugged her right shoulder.

Everyone let out a sigh, Zhu Houzhao also showed a regretful expression, Bai Yulian still failed. Bai Xiaode had already let go of Bai Yulian at this time, came to her, and said to her, "Don't lean forward when you take out your palm, and you must leave three points, otherwise you won't be able to take it back, and you will be restrained all of a sudden." Bai Yulian rubbed her shoulders and said solemnly, "My daughter has been taught." ”

Everyone next to him began to applaud, no matter what the result was, the competition between father and daughter just now was still very exciting. Zhu Houwei looked at Bai Xiaode and couldn't help but have his eyes shining, feeling that Bai Xiaode's martial arts should not be underestimated, and said to a guard next to him, "How many moves can you make in Mr. Bai's hands when you go up?" The guard's face was embarrassed for a while, and he said in a low voice, "Weichen doesn't know, but defeat is definitely defeat." Mr. Bai can at least have a tie with the leader. As soon as the guard said it, Zhu Houwei had the bottom.

Bai Xiaode's injury was cured some time ago, looking at the prosperity of Huangzhuang, after Lao Li's persuasion, he became a naturalized student in Huangzhuang, and there were no relatives in Shandong, and he couldn't take his daughter to wander the world, so he decided to live in Huangzhuang and find a job as a private school teacher. However, in Qingzhou, Bai Xiaode's fame is still very great, but when he arrives in the capital, no one looks down on him. After all, not to mention the talent here, there are not a few people, and Bai Xiaode has no merit, so it is still difficult to find a job for Mr. Private School. Recently, I am going to find a job to do in the village, even if it is to be a coolie, it is better than bothering Lao Li's family all the time. Today, on a whim, I checked whether my daughter's martial arts had regressed, so I just competed with my daughter.