Some words don't make sense with Zhu Houzhao, a mentally retarded person, as long as it's not for the things he cares about, this thing is like a stupid beep.

Xia Yuan can only use the things he cares about as an example to illustrate what this dog cares about more than the prince, war, military.

"Nine percent of the official roads in the Ming Dynasty are dirt roads, potholes, bumpy walking, inconvenient transportation, if you build this kind of flat cement road, does the carriage have to run faster than those dirt roads?"

"Yes."

"If the whole world is paved with this kind of concrete road, wherever there is a rebellion, the army and logistics can speed along this flat concrete road, which greatly speeds up, and the road that normally takes a month to reach may only take ten days and half a month."

"Or to put it more simply, build a wide and flat cement road to Mobei, and then the grain, grass, soldiers and horses will walk on it, running fast and steady."

Before he finished speaking, Zhu Houzhao's eyes were already lit up, his breathing began to speed up, and his whole face was red with excitement.

Not only can you respond quickly, but you can rush to the battlefield as quickly as possible.

What's more, you can save grain and grass.

In these years, the transportation of grain was all manpower, and the loss was extremely high, such as transporting grain to some distant border gates, and the loss was even as high as eight to two, or even nine to one.

For example, the imperial court requisitioned and dispatched the people to transport grain, and set off from Beijing to Liaodong, a thousand miles away.

Suppose a grain transportation team of 10,000 people carries 100 catties of grain per person, 1 million catties.

Then only 100,000 catties of grain can be sent to Liaodong, and the rest of 900,000 catties go into the stomachs of the people.

Not only did you have to eat when you went, but you also had to eat on the way back.

Of course, the imperial court is not mentally retarded, and basically transports grain nearby, but if there is no food nearby, or there is not enough food, then it can only adopt this method of great consumption.

Zhu Houzhao is familiar with military books and has studied many battles, how can he not know the terrible loss of grain and grass.

Otherwise, he would not have thought that in the future, when the emperor drove his own expedition, he would use war to feed the war, plundering cattle and sheep on the grassland to supplement grain and grass and military supplies.

He even began to adapt to the environment of Mobei early, living in yurts, wearing Mongolian clothes, drinking mare's milk wine, and eating roasted whole sheep.

"This cement is still a bit brittle, it is not suitable for road construction, and it needs to be improved."

"How?"

"You let me ponder."

Xia Yuan walked over and looked at the cement full of cracks, the limestone was still not broken enough, it had to be broken more when burned, the temperature had to be high, and there were still many impurities that had not been burned clean.

Thinking to himself, he took out the booklet from his cuff that recorded the proportion of ingredients, opened it, and looked at it, and in this way, the proportion of clay had to be appropriately reduced.

Then add more river sand, mix with sand and stones, and then lay the cement thicker, and after it is completely solidified and dry, the hammer will definitely not be broken, and it can enter mass production.

"Twenty kilns are then fired, according to the cement of the seventeenth kiln, little by little, this time the temperature is burned higher, and the limestone and clay are also broken a little more."

The Forbidden City, in the warm pavilion of the Qianqing Palace.

Emperor Hongzhi watched as Na Xiao Jing took out a cloth bag from his arms, and then unveiled the inner and outer three layers like a baby, revealing a pile of blue-gray soil in front of him.

"What is this?" Zhu Youzhu got closer and took a closer look, no matter how you look at it, it is still a handful of soil, or the kind of soil that is not very good-looking, and there is still a faint smell.

I haven't smelled it, I don't know how to describe it, it doesn't smell good anyway.

"Emperor, the slave and maid heard the people below say that this is called cement ash."

In fact, Xiao Jing didn't know what it was, but it was reported by someone below.

"Cement ash?"

"Exactly."

Xiao Jing nodded, and poked the ash with his finger again, "Emperor, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Xia Xima have been busy with this in the past few days. Listen to the people below say that it's like mud, add some water to it."

"You said the two of them have been busy with mud these days?"

Hearing this, Zhu Youzhu couldn't help interrupting, and his brows were already furrowed.

"The slave and maid dare not deceive the emperor, but it is the same as mud, I heard that as long as you add some water to these soils, add some sand and stones, and then stir them like mud, and when they are dried, they will become extremely hard."

Emperor Hongzhi's brow was still furrowed, "How hard can it be?" ”

"According to the report of the people below, it is said that this thing is solid, and it is also said that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has been conducting some experiments these days, and it will be broken and broken apart when it is smashed with a hammer at the beginning.

But the back is harder and harder each time, and now I use a hammer to smash it, and at most I leave a little knock. ”

"How strong can it be?"

"The people at the bottom are talking about such a sturdy, but the specific details of the slave and maid are not very clear, even if they are not so strong, they are still very strong."

“.”

Emperor Hongzhi bowed slightly, but he no longer spoke, staring at the pile of blue-gray cement ash and not knowing what he was thinking, hesitated for a moment, bent his fingers and pinched a little cement ash, and rubbed it with his index finger and thumb.

It's like fine sand, but it's not as fine as fine sand, with a slight graininess.

Frankly, he didn't quite believe that something like this could be as strong as it could be.

But he also wanted it to be so strong, because many of the Forbidden City's vacant halls had fallen into disrepair and had been reluctant to repair them, and it would take a lot of glutinous rice to boil the cracks, not to mention the rest of the materials that cost money.

But this kind of ash can become solid as long as it is mixed with water that does not require money, and then mixed with sand and stones that do not need money.

How much money should I save by building a house in the future?

"Will Xiao Companion be with mud?"

"The slave and maid will be, but the slave and maid have not seen how His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has reconciled, and it is different from the usual harmony."

Speaking of this, Xiao Jing paused a few times, and added: "And I'm afraid this cement ash is a little less." ”

It's really very few, I'm afraid that a small wooden box can be fitted, and the eastern suburbs are very strictly guarded, and those Dongchang fans mixed into the team of the kiln to help burn the kiln for several days, and then they worked hard to get out so much.

Zhu Youzhu groaned again, and after a while, he asked, "Where are they in the eastern suburbs?" ”

"Yes, I heard that dozens of kilns have been built there, and this cement ash is fired every day."

"This ash is fired?"

"It is indeed burned, the slave and maid forgot to report this matter before, and the emperor forgives the sin."

“.”

Emperor Hongzhi didn't answer, and thought in his heart, since it was fired, did it cost a lot of silver?

It's like the porcelain that comes out of it.

It costs a lot of money to burn porcelain.

But after thinking about it, he thought that the porcelain was so beautiful and a pleasing object, but the soil was mediocre, and it was not too much to say that it was ugly.

"Go, Xiao Companion, find me a staff coat and prepare a small sedan chair."

After thinking about it, he decided to go to the eastern suburbs to have a look.

(End of chapter)