As a time-traveler, Roland felt that it was not surprising that he could think of this, Matvey and Duvalin had never been exposed to the substance "cement" before, and with a little research, they could come up with the application technology that many engineers on Earth had spent countless efforts to invent, and the quasi-legendary mechanism warlock and alchemist really lived up to their reputation.

"The two masters, Matvey and Duvalin, are really smart people!" Compared with the intelligence of these two old monsters, Roland can only bow to the upper hand.

"That cannot be said, His Excellency Matvey and Mr. Duvalin are certainly commendable for their improvement of cement application technology, but if it were not for Your Highness, you first invented this epoch-making new material, cement, the wisdom of the two old gentlemen would not be useful, and they both admit that they were inspired by you to innovate, and every time His Royal Highness the Prince's ingenuity is mentioned, His Excellency Matvey and Mr. Duvalin are very admired." Semyon Ivanovich said with a solemn face.

Roland believed that Semyon Ivanovich's words were from the heart, but he could only smile bitterly and did not dare to take credit. In fact, he didn't invent the formula for cement out of thin air, and like the previous innovations that shocked the world, they were all inseparable from his background as a traverser, and were inspired by the existing technological achievements on earth.

At the beginning of the 19th century, a British construction worker used limestone and clay as raw materials, combined with a certain proportion, calcined the mature material in a vertical kiln similar to burnt lime, and then grinded it into powder, thus inventing "cement" in the modern sense, which was rapidly popularized and popularized by virtue of excellent architectural performance, and had epoch-making significance in the history of cement. This simple, easy-to-use cement is named "Portland Cement" because of its hardened color similar to the stone used for construction in Portland, England.

Roland could no longer remember the name of the inventor of "Portland cement", but fortunately he could still remember the formula of this cement, and the Karon industrial area happened to be rich in limestone and clay resources, so he proposed the recipe and asked Master Duvalin to try to fire it, the specific process is unknown, probably Duvalin made many improvements on the basis of the rough steps he proposed, and finally succeeded in firing the cement. Of course, Roland no longer calls it "Portland Cement" and is not ashamed to name it "Koras Cement".

After the initial maturity of the technology of firing cement, Roland invested in the construction of a cement plant in the Karon Industrial Zone. The production of cement, a high-value construction and military material, is of course a key national support project, and as usual, the China Development Bank provides start-up capital and holds a controlling stake, and the Kolas family fund also contributes a large amount of money, owning 40% of the shares, and the remaining 10% of the shares are equally donated to Matvi and Duvalin, who have made important contributions to the improvement and popularization of cement formulations.

The carriage in which Roland and Semyon Ivanovich were riding stopped in front of the cement factory gate, and as soon as Roland got out of the car, he heard the distinctive sharp voice of the dwarf alchemist Duvalin.

"Number one! How's the One? ”

With a thumping sound, someone replied loudly: "Mr. Duvalin, the No. 1 cement block has crystallized!" It's very sturdy when it hits! ”

"Excellent! Very good! Number two! Knock on number two! How's the number two? ”

"Teacher, No. 2 has also condensed very strongly."

"Haha! It's good luck today, go get me some honey tea, preferably some biscuits, sit on the cement block and taste the bright June sunshine, and drink a cup of afternoon tea, which is a rare enjoyment. The dwarf alchemist smiled happily.

"Teacher, there is a problem with the No. 3 cement block...... Not yet fully condensed. ”

"What?! How could this be...... "Duvalin jumped up from the cement block at once, and the honey tea didn't care to drink it, and went around the cement that had not yet fully solidified, and said to himself, "It seems that the recipe is still not perfect, damn it, this is really a disappointment!" ”

"What's the matter, Master Duvalin?" Roland walked over with a smile, "Got in trouble?" ”

"Yo! Your Royal Highness, how did you get here? I did have a little technical trouble, but it didn't bother me. The little old man puffed out his chest proudly.

"Are cement production activities going well?" Roland asked.

"It's not bad, the production process of this thing is not complicated, there is nothing difficult to burst the production capacity, but it is not perfect now, I want to compress the setting time of cement to less than three hours, and the formula needs to be improved." Duvalin said thoughtfully.

"What is the market outlook for cement?" Roland then inquired.

"It takes a process to promote new materials, after all, most people are still very new to him, but we have already received a large order!" The old dwarf said with a smile on his eyebrows, "The municipal administration of Krasbourg plans to renovate the city and rebuild the roads in the city, and it was originally planned to pave the road with bluestone slabs, which will cost 150,000 gold tales, which is a lot of money!" Later, I and the old man Matvey jointly proposed to use cement instead of stone paving, by the way to harden the pavement, save 30% of the budget not to mention more beautiful atmosphere, the result of the successful acquisition of this order, if the facts prove that our plan is feasible, in the future of the city renovation project of various towns, as well as along the railway line of the new town road hardening project, will purchase a large amount of cement, only this business is enough to feed dozens of hundreds of cement plants! ”

Roland was only vague about the use of cement in engineering and construction, but his experience of living on Earth before the crossing confirmed Duvalin's assumption that a lot of cement is needed for hardening the pavement of modern towns. The concentrated influx of government and private capital into industrial production and transportation construction in the Far East has led to a wave of "urbanization" frenzy, and more and more rural people have migrated to small towns built along railway and highway stations, and the boom in the construction industry will inevitably produce a strong demand for cement, and the opening of cement factories will be a lucrative industry in the foreseeable future.

"Master Duvalin, I have come to ask you for a difficult problem that has been bothering you for a long time." Roland put aside the discussion about cement for the time being and got down to business.

"Oh? Is there anything I can do to help, Your Highness the Prince! "The old dwarf is very cheerful.

"As you mentioned earlier, Krasbourg is going to renovate the city's roads, which reminds me of how painful it is to ride in a horse-drawn carriage on a potholed road, but unfortunately there are no bumps when driving, whether it is on the city road or on the road outside the city, and the wheels and axles are often damaged because of the severe bumps, which causes a lot of inconvenience to people who travel long distances, I wonder if there is a way to change this unpleasant situation?" Roland stared at the dwarf alchemist with burning eyes, his eyes full of anticipation.