"You?"

When the emperor heard Han Fei's request to supervise the repair of the imperial mausoleum, he stared at him in astonishment for a while, and asked slowly: "Han Aiqing, why do you have the idea of building the imperial mausoleum?" ”

Han Fei bowed and said solemnly: "Since Weichen entered the court, he has been deeply favored by the emperor, and he has been thinking about serving the saint every day. Besides, the imperial mausoleum is related to the longevity of the emperor, if you put aside the etiquette of the monarch and the minister, the emperor is the father-in-law of the minister, at this time, how can the children stay out of the matter? Knock on Your Majesty to allow Weichen to build the imperial mausoleum! ”

"Han Aiqing's sincere heart, I am very pleased!" The emperor personally helped Han Fei up and sighed: "Aiqing has this heart, but after all, you are new to officialdom and are not familiar with civil engineering, how can you build the imperial mausoleum?" ”

"Your Majesty, Weichen is not just talking, but has a certain certainty!"

Han Fei took out a roll of paper from the package he brought, and said: "Your Majesty, Wei Chen heard about the collapse of the imperial tomb yesterday, and he was worried, and immediately after returning home, he sent someone to the imperial tomb to draw a topographic map, and collected samples of the mountains and rocks in the collapsed area, Wei Chen thought about it all night, and finally found a feasible plan!" ”

The emperor was skeptical of Han Fei's words, but when he saw this three-dimensional sketch topographic map, he said excitedly: "Han Aiqing, tell me quickly, what is your plan?" ”

Han Fei did not reply immediately, but took out a few samples of mountain stones in the package, and said: "Your Majesty, this is the mountain stone collected from the collapsed area, it seems to be no different from other mountain stones, in fact, the mountain stone has been eroded by wind and sun and flowing water for many years, and the inside of the mountain stone has become soft and unbearable, once it is squeezed by external force, it will be shattered!" ”

After that, he asked the eunuch on duty to fetch a hard object and knocked on a mountain rock, which immediately shattered into gravel and scattered all over the ground.

"Your Majesty, with such a soft foundation, it is naturally impossible to withstand the pressure of the wall, and from the topographic map, there is a spring on one side of the mountain, indicating that there are cracks or holes in the middle of the rocks, so the degree of fragmentation of the rocks must be more serious, and the collapse of the wall is inevitable!"

Seeing that Han Fei was so well prepared, the emperor was convinced of what he said.

"Han Aiqing, since there is a problem with the mountain itself, then the imperial mausoleum wall cannot be built? The Imperial Mausoleum has been built for 16 years, costing a lot of money, most of it has been completed, and it is impossible to rebuild it again, do you have a solution? ”

"Your Majesty, Wei Chen has thought about it all night, and has come up with a countermeasure, building the imperial mausoleum wall on the mountain over there, it is impossible to succeed according to the traditional method, only find another way!"

"Oh? Han Aiqing, what are your plans? ”

"Your Majesty, Wechen is not going to build a wall with stones, but to use a new building material. Wechen once saw the firing method of cement in a surviving ancient book......"

"What is cement?"

"Your Majesty, cement is the name given by Wechen, and there is no name in the original record, that is, the material that Wechen wants to use to build the wall. This material is initially in the form of powder, and after being mixed and solidified with water, it is as hard as a stone, but it is not like a stone that is one piece by one, and the wall solidifies into a whole, so that it will never collapse! ”

After listening to Han Fei's explanation, the emperor was both excited and incredulous, and couldn't help asking: "Han Aiqing, is that cement really as magical as you said?" ”

"Your Majesty, if Weichen dares to guarantee his life, he will definitely build a solid imperial mausoleum!"

"Han Aiqing can stand up at this time to share my worries, I am very relieved, I don't want your life as a guarantee, you just try your best to do your best, I will give you a year, when the construction of the imperial mausoleum is completed, I will personally celebrate for you!"

"Your Majesty, Weichen doesn't need a year, three months is enough!"

"Three months?"

Han Fei saw the emperor's expression of astonishment, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, this cement also has a miraculous place, that is, the pouring and solidification speed is very fast, the reason why Weichen asked for three months is that it takes time to fire cement, once the cement is fired, the distance of about three hundred zhang, twenty days can be poured successfully!" ”

"Is cement so useful?"

"Your Majesty, yes, this is also what Wechen is about to report. Cement transportation is convenient, the construction project is fast, but it is as solid as a rock after solidification, it can be used to repair bridges and pave roads, build water conservancy, build pass walls, build houses, etc., the construction of the imperial mausoleum wall is the first use, once proven effective, then this thing is a strategic material. ”

The emperor immediately understood the importance of cement, and hurriedly said: "Han Aiqing, cement is too important to Dahua, and it must be kept secret!" ”

"Wechen obeys! Your Majesty, after the successful construction of the imperial mausoleum, Weichen will dedicate the method of cement firing to the imperial court! ”

"Han Aiqing, it's not appropriate to hand over this law to others, it's better for you to be in charge, I will set up a cement-burning organization!"

The emperor thought for a while, and then said, "Han Aiqing, do you need to send guards to protect the kiln where you burn cement?" ”

"Your Majesty, no one knows about the cement, it's not good to make a big move now, and it will also affect the mood of the craftsmen to develop cement.

"It's okay, Han Aiqing, I have appointed you as the head of the Imperial Mausoleum Supervision, and you are fully responsible for the construction of the Imperial Mausoleum!"

"Wechen obeys!"

The news that the emperor appointed Han Fei as the new governor of the imperial mausoleum quickly spread throughout the government and the opposition, and immediately triggered a round of public opinion, but the conclusion of public opinion was almost one-sided and unfavorable. Some people sneered, expecting Han Fei to make a big mistake; Some people feel sorry and think that this matter will inevitably affect Han Fei's reputation; Some people complained about him, thinking that the emperor should not hand over this matter to him, who had just entered the officialdom and was only five grades.

The head of the cabinet, Ruan Changfeng, was on duty, and his nephew Nguyen Van Yuan said: "Uncle, how could the emperor hand over the errand of building the imperial tomb to the surnamed Han?" ”

"That's his own request, hum, it's really beyond his means, how many ministers are folded on the imperial mausoleum, and the credit for building the imperial mausoleum is so easy to take? He is looking for death by himself, so it's no wonder that the old man is gone! ”

After Jia Zheng, a member of the Ministry of Labor, learned of this, he immediately rushed to the Han Mansion to inquire about the details, and was told that Han Fei had taken someone to the imperial tomb, but he sighed in a hurry.

Han Fei knew that after this matter was made public, many people would inevitably come to the door to ask what was going on, go back to the house to explain a few words, and simply go directly to the imperial mausoleum. Because of the collapse accident, all the officials who built the imperial tomb were arrested, and the construction site of the imperial tomb was leaderless and paralyzed. When he arrived, he reorganized the stewardship and then arranged for personnel to clean up the collapse site.

Although most of the imperial mausoleum has been completed, there are still tens of thousands of migrant workers on the construction site, and the cleaning speed is very fast. Subsequently, Han Fei divided the migrant workers into several groups, some prepared to pour the formwork for the cement wall, some transported stones and yellow sand steel, and some excavated the foundation.

Twenty days have passed, all the preparations are ready, and now the cement is missing.

(End of chapter)