Two thousand healthy soldiers were recruited, and Yang Peng asked them to report next month. This month, Yang Peng will seize the time to build a soldier's barracks. Yang Peng was going to let the soldiers have a room for eight people, so he would build two hundred and fifty houses. It takes a lot of construction workers to build so many houses in a month, and Yang Peng has almost all the masons and carpenters near Yingzhou and Cangzhou.

Knowing that the building that Yang Peng was going to build was a soldier's barracks, Tao Youmao, the head of the mason, was very surprised and asked in surprise: "Master Guan, you want to build such a large barracks?" How many soldiers does that have to hold? "This Tao Youmao is a thin middle-aged man with two long mustaches on his lips. When he spoke, his two beards shook and shook, which was very funny.

Although it is not a secret how many soldiers are hired, Yang Peng is not willing to let too many people know. At least in the future, when facing the Khitan army or bandits, you can't let the enemy know your bottom clearly. Glancing at Tao Youmao, Yang Peng said: "You don't have to ask more, hurry up and organize people to build it!" Tao Youmao agreed, but sighed again: "The sergeant of the captain is more than the garrison of Cangzhou City!" It's messy, it's messy! Yang Peng glared at Tao Youmao and scolded: "You don't want to go out and talk nonsense, if you spread it, I will definitely cut off your tongue!" ”

Hearing the official's scolding, the craftsman shrank his head and said with a smile: "Official, where can I talk nonsense, I was really surprised, just talk to myself." I definitely don't say anything outside! After thinking about it, that Tao Youmao said again: "Official, you are so bold, raising so many soldiers, you will definitely make great achievements in the future!" Be a general counselor, no, be a general! ”

Yang Peng has experienced a lot of things in the past few months, and he feels that he can't do it without an official in the Great Song Dynasty, but he has some expectations for being a big official, and replied with a smile: "Then I will entrust you with good words!" Tao Youmao looked at Yang Peng's face, and saw that Yang Peng's face was not unhappy, so he asked again: "Why isn't the official's barracks repaired in the city, won't the Khitans come without danger in the future?" ”

Yang Peng smiled and said, "The area north of Zhuangzi will be built into a city in the future." I will build a city with a circumference of 5,000 paces, with walls covered with bricks, and four gates! The craftsman was stunned and muttered: "The official is so bold, the official means to build a city as big as Cangzhou City!" Yang Peng nodded a little proudly and said, "That's right, you will be able to see this new city in a few months!" ”

"He is worthy of being the head of the Yang family! Build a county town out of thin air! That Tao Youmao sighed with emotion, and suddenly became a little anxious, his eyes rolled, and he knelt in front of Yang Peng with a puff, and said flatteringly: "Official, you have to share some of this work of repairing the city wall and bricks." More than 200 craftsmen under my command are waiting every day for the job to open and earn food! ”

Yang Peng Zhengse said: "It depends on the quality of the barracks you build, the quality of the barracks is good, and I will give you the work of repairing the city wall!" Tao Youmao kowtowed on the ground and said, "Don't worry, sir, we will definitely work hard to do a good job of these barracks!" "Now that the city wall is ready to be built and cementitious materials are to be used on a large scale, Yang Peng is about to start making cement.

The bonded masonry of the Great Song Dynasty is made of triple soil. It is recorded in the book: "The ash used for the tomb and the reservoir is divided into river sand, and the loess is divided into two, and glutinous rice, sheep peach vine juice and even... The name is Sanhe soil". This kind of triple soil requires glutinous rice, which is expensive, which directly leads to the high cost of civil engineering in ancient China. And compared to cement, the quality of this triad soil is far inferior.

Yang Peng built the city wall to save his life, of course, he had to use the best materials. Yang Peng chose to produce Portland cement, which is the best cement in the early days, which is simple, strong and durable. The cost of Portland cement is much lower than that of triad soil, but the effect is better than that of triad soil. Not only is cement used to build the city wall, but with the spread of Yang Peng's career, the amount of civil engineering projects in various places in the future will not be small, and this kind of cement will be used everywhere.

Limestone and clay are required to fire Portland cement, which is served with a small amount of gypsum as a retarder. Limestone and clay are extremely cheap things, easy to obtain, Yang Peng found a Cangzhou miner and ordered 100,000 catties of limestone and 30,000 catties of clay, which cost only a few dozen taels of silver. Gypsum was also mineralized in the Great Song Dynasty, which was used as a medicinal herb and was not very expensive. Yang Peng found a big pharmacy in Cangzhou City, bargained, and ordered 1,000 catties of gypsum at the price of three pennies a catty.

Cement production pays attention to two grinding and one burning. Before calcination, limestone and clay should be ground into powder, and 1,300 degrees of high temperature calcination is used in the vertical cellar, and the resulting cement should be ground into powder after calcination. Yang Peng built several factories outside the south gate of Hope Village, surrounded by a fence outside, which was used as a factory to produce Portland cement. There are thirty large stone mills in the factory, pulled by donkeys, which are specially used to grind fine materials and finished products. Li Zhi hired four lime craftsmen who fired quicklime for three taels of silver a month, and asked them to erect a cellar in the factory to burn cement. Yang Peng piled up the previous cement kiln and made it anew, Yang Peng felt that the cement kiln in front was still not good enough.

Yang Peng instructed the craftsmen to grind the materials into powder, mix the limestone according to the ratio of three to one, and send it to the vertical cellar for calcination. The cellar gradually heats up, calcining at the highest temperature for three hours and then turning off the fire to obtain clinker in the form of large and small stones. Yang Peng asked the limesmiths to pour the clinker onto a stone mill and grind it into powder, and then add some gypsum as a retarder.

Four lime masons operated according to Yang Peng's requirements and obtained the first furnace test product. Yang Peng took it and tried it: cement powder was mixed with water to form a paste, and it was applied to the brick to bond another brick. After the cement was dry, Li Zhi grabbed one brick and lifted the two bricks. The second brick was still glued to the first brick at first, but with a slight shake, the second brick fell off. The first cement experiment failed and failed.

Yang Peng was a little annoyed, he thought about it, and checked the formula of Portland cement in his memory again. After confirming that it was correct, Yang Peng felt that the temperature of the cellar might not be enough. Yang Peng walked in front of the two-person tall cellar, looked back and forth, turned his head and said to the most experienced craftsman: "Boss Liang, the temperature is not enough now, can the temperature of your cellar be raised?" As an industrial designer, Yang Peng understands the formula of Portland cement, but he has no research on the lime cellar, and can only rely on the craftsmen of this era. After saying this, Li Zhi looked at Boss Liang a little nervously.

Boss Liang replied respectfully: "Official, it can still be improved, but the cellar needs to be renovated." Yang Peng's face was overjoyed, patted Boss Liang's shoulder, and said with a smile: "Then hurry up and transform it!" Hurry! "Those lime craftsmen are also veterans, and they have a lot of experience in controlling the cellar. It took them three days to change the cellar and raise the temperature.

Yang Peng took two bricks to try, and this time no matter how Yang Peng threw it, the second brick was firmly glued to the first brick. Yang Peng took a knife to cut the interface of the two bricks, and found that the hardened cement was as hard as stone, and the steel knife slashed hard and splashed a spark, leaving only a small hole in the cement. With such intensity, it is enough to make a city wall.

Several craftsmen were amazed when they saw the effect of cement. The most powerful adhesive they have ever seen is Sanhe soil, where have they ever seen such a hard adhesive as cement? The four craftsmen looked around the two bricks that were glued together for a long time, pulling and smashing, but they couldn't separate the two bricks. In the end, Boss Feng shook his head and walked up to Yang Peng and said, "The official's methods are too powerful, this cement is used to repair the city wall, it is solid!" ”

made cement, Yang Peng was also very happy in his heart, and said loudly: "The four of you have made cement, and you will be rewarded with five taels of silver each." "Five taels of silver is enough for a family of three for two or three months. The four craftsmen are also accustomed to living a hard life, and they are very grateful to Yang Peng for working here for three taels of silver a month.

"Where do we make it? It's all done according to the instructions of adults! "Your Excellency is so bold, thank you, sir!" "Thank you, sir!" Yang Peng smiled and listened to the craftsman's thanks, and said, "But you can't leak the formula of this cement!" Once someone leaks secrets, military law will deal with it! The four craftsmen quickly replied, "Yes!" "We know!"

The cement was made experimentally, and Yang Peng began mass production. He hired twelve more lime masons and erected three new cellars under the guidance of Boss Liang. All four cellars soon began mass production of cement. A vertical cellar produces three furnaces of cement per day, each furnace is 200 catties, and four vertical cellars can produce 2,400 catties of cement a day.

This cement is enough to supply the civil engineering works of Hope Village. If you have more, you can sell it on the market. After the cement was produced, it was hoped that the masons in the village would get the new cementitious material as soon as possible. Yang Peng gave the finished cement to the masons who were building the barracks to replace the Sanhe soil.

However, these masons, who are accustomed to using Sanhe soil, are not very receptive to Yang Peng's cement. Tao Youmao, the head of the mason, looked at the cement sent by Yang Peng, blew his mustache with some disdain, and said to the craftsmen around him: "The master of the team is joking with us!" I've been a mason all my life, and I've never heard of anything better than Sanhe soil! The only thing I've heard is that the rich gentry in the south built houses and added brown sugar to the Sanhe soil, which was slightly better than the Sanhe soil, but the cost was higher. The 'cement' sent by the master of the management team is a very cheap thing at first glance, how can it be comparable to Sanhe soil? ”

Hearing Tao Youmao's complaints, the masons next to him also discussed: "Yes, there is glutinous rice in Sanhe soil, how can other materials be more useful than Sanhe soil?" "The captain of the team can't be blinded by lard and want to save some money by cutting corners, right?" "It's really possible, is the manager out of money?" For a while, the masons all talked about Yang Peng's view of money. Yang Peng challenged the worldview of these masons, and these masons damaged Yang Peng from beginning to end, and they didn't want to believe that cement was better than Sanhe soil.

A middle-aged mason walked up to Tao Youmao and said worriedly: "Potter head, a few days ago you said that the management team has money and wants to use us to build the city wall. Now that the team has used the means of cutting corners to repair the barracks, I am afraid that there is no money to repair the city wall! Shaking his head, the middle-aged mason said, "We have been building this barracks so hard these days, and the materials are so sufficient, just to take over the work of repairing the city wall and wrapping bricks. Now it seems that it is all a fantasy! ”

Hearing the discussion of his subordinates, Tao Youmao pondered for a moment, waved his hand and said, "Okay, let's try the effect of this cement first, and then see if it's unbearable!" Hearing Tao Youmao's words, the middle-aged mason said loudly: "What to try, potter's head, this cement is black, it won't work at first glance!" Tao Youmao blew his beard and said loudly: "I said to try, so I tried it." Try it out! ”

Hearing Tao Youmao's words, everyone stopped complaining and began to try the black and slimy cement. According to the small man who brought the cement, the masons mixed the cement and sand in a one-to-five ratio, and then brought water from the well and poured it on the mixture of cement and sand, and stirred it with a shovel little by little.

The black, powdery cement turned into a sticky paste when stirred. Seeing this scene, the onlookers were amazed. "It's the same thing as cement!" "It's kind of interesting!" "Don't say it, although it's definitely not as good as Sanhe soil, maybe it's really a little sticky!"

"The master of the management team is still a little calculating, not all messy." Tao Youmao was also full of surprise when he saw the change in cement. He had the cement used as a binder to build a four-foot-high wall in the dug foundation hole. The masons were all veterans, and the cement was now as sticky as it had been before the clay had set, and a few masons were building the wall as quickly as possible. In less than half an hour, a brick wall four feet long and four feet high was built. After the wall was built, the people buried the foundation of the brick wall with earth, and waited for the cement to dry.

When the sun was setting in the west, the cement gradually dried up, and everyone returned to Tao Youmao and gathered. Tao Youmao saw that the guys were all back, so he said, "Okay, it's time to do it!" Let's try him! Everyone's eyes suddenly lit up, seeing how Tao Youmao wanted to try this cement. Tao Youmao pointed at the middle-aged mason and said, "Go and kick him a few times!" ”

The middle-aged mason exclaimed, "Okay," rolled up his sleeves, and took three steps back. He yelled and lunged up and kicked the wall. When everyone saw the middle-aged mason kicking so hard, they were afraid that the wall would fall down and hit themselves, so they grinned and took a step back.

"Ahh But they didn't see the brick wall falling, but they heard the middle-aged mason let out a scream, and then they saw him jumping up in front of the immobile brick wall, holding his feet. "Oh my feet! Tao Youmao, you asked me to kick this wall to kill me! My feet are broken! Seeing the appearance of the middle-aged mason, everyone was shocked, and one by one they were stunned, and looked at the cement wall anew.

The cement of this team is still a little useful, it's not that kind of thing. At least the cement can withstand the impact of a small area, not a hole in one foot. Tao Youmao looked at the middle-aged mason with a pig-like voice, blew his mustache, and pointed to another young mason and said, "You, come here and hit this wall!" ”

The kick is not bad, which means that the cement is still very hard after drying. But when a person hits it, it is blunt force, and whether the cement can be supported by blunt force is another matter. The young mason rubbed his hands together and stood in front of the wall. After a few steps, he slammed his shoulder against the cement brick wall. Seeing this, the onlookers retreated back, and secretly said that this broken wall should fall.

But to everyone's surprise, the young mason's arm hurt from the collision, but the cement brick wall stood still like a pillar in the southern sky, and it didn't shake it. The crowd was silent for a moment. After a long time, a mason said: "Straight thief, the cement of the management team is really similar to Sanhe soil!" "And they stood there as if they had just woken up from a dream, and looked at each other a few times, and heard someone say; But the guy who sent the cement just now said that this cement is much cheaper than Sanhe soil! ”

Hearing this, the masons all felt gloomy. I've been pasting Sanhe soil all my life, and I didn't know that there was such a cheap and easy-to-use adhesive in the world. Dare to love that the mason has worked in vain all his life, how good is it to ask the master of the management team to sacrifice this cement?

The crowd was still not convinced, so someone shouted: "One person can't knock down, two people can try to bump together!" When they heard this, they all said yes, and two people came out and slammed into the wall. The two collided for the first time, and the brick wall did not waver. The second time, they hit again, and the brick wall still did not waver. When they hit it for the third time, they were dizzy, but the concrete brick wall still stood there, unmoving.

The onlookers fell silent. What is this, I'm afraid this is stronger than Sanhe soil! Such a cheap black cement, mixed with sand, is actually stronger and more reliable than the expensive Sanhe soil. Where did such a thing come from, it's really unheard of. With this thing, my decades of experience in pasting Sanhe soil are all fart!

Even Tao Youmao, who was old and serious, was embarrassed at this time. It was a long time before someone said a word. "The master of the management team is worthy of being the head of the Yang family, he used to make salt, and now he has made such a magical cement!" Everyone was silent for a long time, and Tao Youmao came out in crowd. He went into the house, took out a kitchen knife, walked over to the brick wall, and used the kitchen knife to cut at the air-dried cement in the crack of the brick.

He didn't believe it, couldn't even a kitchen knife cut through the cement? But the next scene made him speechless: he only heard a "bang", and the kitchen knife that slashed on the cement was violently opened, and a spark came out on the cement. And with a knife cut, the cement that dried in the brick cracks only made a small cut.

This cement is so strong, it's a stone! You know, even if it's Sanhe soil with brown sugar, it can't withstand the slash of the sword! When everyone saw such a scene, they were convinced one by one. For these masons who use Sanhe earth to build walls every day, this cement seems to let them see the means of the gods.

Tao Youmao threw the knife to the ground and sighed: "Wang Ba Lamb, I have been pasting Sanhe soil all my life, and it is all white." It's the first time I've seen this thing! This thing is ten times better than Sanhetu! By mid-September, the soldiers' barracks had been repaired and their beds and bedding had been prepared. On 15 September, 2,000 soldiers of the Election Regiment reported to the Hope Village Barracks. Zhang Xiang divided the two thousand men into four battalions, each with 500 men; four companies per battalion, one hundred and twenty-five men each; There were four platoons in each company, and thirty-one people in each platoon.

The most important thing in the army is combat merits, ability, and qualifications, and now that they have not fought in a war, they cannot show their combat merits and abilities, so they can only pay attention to their qualifications first. Now that 2,000 new recruits have been recruited, Yang Peng's original more than 70 soldiers have risen to become officers and sent to various platoons as platoon commanders. After the soldiers settled down, the platoon commander asked them to take a soapy bath in the bathhouse to wash off the lice and dirt from their bodies. The second thing is to go to the canteen to have a full meal with meat, meat and vegetables, and enjoy the good treatment of the soldiers of the Xuanfeng Battalion. The third thing is to get a good night's sleep early and prepare for the next morning's gathering.

At midnight the next morning, the genius was bright, and the rallying horn of the Selector Battalion had sounded. The soldiers got up from their beds and gathered in the small square outside the south gate of Hope Village under the leadership of the platoon commander. Outside the south gate of Hope Village, there are already a lot of military people standing to watch the excitement. Next to the small earthen platform in front of the soldiers, Yang Peng and Zhang Xiang rode on horses in official robes, waiting for the assembled soldiers.

After all the soldiers were assembled, Yang Peng jumped off his horse and walked onto the small earthen platform. Yang Peng stood on the small earthen platform and looked around, only to see the black pressing a human head. Thinking that these people would be his own soldiers from now on and would charge into battle according to his orders, Yang Peng couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in his heart.

It may be a blessing that I have come to this era. How could he have ever held such power? Yang Peng stood on the stage and shouted loudly: "Ladies and gentlemen, today is your first day in Hope Village. From today on, you are my Yang Peng's soldiers, be my Yang Peng's soldiers! ”

"You are all good men, you have passed a strict physical examination and interview, so you can get three taels of silver a month when you stand here. The army composed of you heroes must also be a strong army! Since it is a strong army, you must understand the meaning of becoming an army! Finally squeezed into Yang Peng's soldier team, Yang Peng's two thousand new soldiers were very obedient to the order, standing below with their ears pricked up to listen to Yang Peng's words, and no one was noisy.

Yang Peng said loudly: "We are a new army, we are a new army different from other Great Song armies!" We are an army to defend our homeland! We are fighting to defend our homeland! Now, Hope Village is the home of the Xuanfeng Group, and the various factories and workshops we have here are the fruits of our home. If anyone covets them, fight them off! ”

"Without a homeland, without the factories and workshops here, our new army will become a tree without soil, and I will pay no month!" "In the future, if the bandits and Khitan dogs are ferocious and destroy our homeland, we will fight the bandits and move the capital! If the Khitan dog enters the customs and covets the land of the Great Song Dynasty and wants to occupy our homeland, we will fight the Khitan dog! "Every drop of blood we shed in the future is shed for our homeland." Yang Peng waved his fists and asked loudly, "Do you understand?" The following two thousand soldiers responded loudly:

"Got it!" "We get it!" Yang Peng waved his hand and said loudly: "The first thing the Xuanfeng Battalion did was to build a new city wall to defend Hope Village. Each platoon leader leads the team to the designated location and starts building the wall! ”

If you want to know what happens next, let's see the next breakdown.