Misty spring rain, in February, at the foot of Anshan Mountain in the southeast of Chuzhou City, chimneys stand in a forest, a radius of several miles, the eyes are full of factories, high walls and barriers, and the sky above the factory area is thick smoke, which is magnificent.

At the entrance of several huge iron gates, the signs of "Chuzhou Iron Works" and "Chuzhou Cement Factory" are clear, and vehicles full of wood, iron ore, coal, and other stones are coming in and out endlessly, and the riverside wharf not far away is full of ships full of goods, and sweaty coolies are unloading and loading. On the embankment by the river are red brick sheds, where charcoal washing and cement bagging are located.

Swords, guns, artillery, armor, shells and shells were continuously transported from here, and vehicles and ships were reloaded and distributed to Lizhou.

Cao Youwen beat his horse and came up from the cement official road, and the soldiers of the Song Army on duty on the high wall and barrier saluted Cao Youwen together. Although it is behind the city of Chuzhou, it is also a border fortress, so there are hundreds of soldiers guarding it, and it is also heavily guarded.

Cao Youwen nodded, his eyes swept to the rows of low thatched huts at the foot of the mountain, Cao Youwen frowned, dismounted and strode over.

"General, why are you here?"

Seeing Cao Youwen coming in, the sergeants and craftsmen outside the cement kiln and lime kiln saluted one after another.

"Everyone's alright."

Cao Youwen nodded, the newly built cement house was cold and damp, which made him shiver.

It's too humid in the house, especially here at the foot of the mountain and by the river, and the temperature is lower than in the state city, so it's easy to get sick.

"It's hot around the kiln, it's all good!"

The sergeants and craftsmen all nodded yes.

"Add a few more braziers to each house, and don't worry about the cost of coal!"

"Thank you, General!"

The craftsmen and sergeants were all warm, and the new court official was approachable, loved the people like a son, and was much more modest than those civil officials.

Since Cao Youwen became the commander of Lizhou West Road, he eliminated the old, weak, sick and disabled, organized and trained the new army, and established the Lizhou Weapons Manufacturing Division, and the cement mill has also risen to repair the city wall of Lizhou West Road and build roads.

Since the Song-Jin War in Jiading, the defense of Shukou is full of holes, the various fortresses have been ravaged and incomplete, and the city walls and passes that are particularly seriously damaged are all in ruins, and rebuilding is inevitable.

Limestone and clay are ground into powder, gypsum is added in the middle, mixed with iron-making slag after calcination, and then ground finely, which can delay the hardening time of cement, and the hardening time becomes longer, which is conducive to control. After the craftsmen adjusted the recipe a few times, they were able to create cement, also known as earth cement, without much difficulty.

A large amount of gypsum is produced on the mountain, as well as limestone, and the waste residue from iron smelting can be mixed with burned clay and other substances to strengthen the function of soil cement, which can be described as killing multiple birds with one stone.

"General Cao, I'll take you to see the cement factory!"

Langzhong of the Ministry of Works, and Peng Daya, the new governor of Lizhou, respectfully acted as guides in front.

He was transferred by the imperial court, and together with the first batch of students who graduated from Jinling Lecture and Martial Arts Hall, he came to Shukou Biansai. Now although he is the governor of Lizhou, he still has to personally inquire about the matter of refining cement.

"Peng Xianggong, thank you!"

When I came to the outside of the cement site, I saw rows of sheds full of limestone and clay. On more than a dozen huge grinding discs, the water drives the stone grinding, crushing the lime.

On the huge field, dozens of sweaty men wielded shovels and were straining the clay to remove impurities. The slag for iron smelting is being sent by the men in a steady stream.

The ground powder is mixed together according to the proportion, and it becomes the current soil cement.

"Peng Xianggong, Shukou repaired the city and built the official road, you have helped a lot!"

Cao Youwen said sincerely.

The border towns of Sanguan and five prefectures, such as Xihe Prefecture, Chengzhou, Fengzhou, including the city of Chuzhou, etc., are all enlarged and heightened, which is extremely conducive to defense.

As for the cement road, the 200-mile road from Chuzhou City to Hanzhong has been repaired, which has made it much more convenient for the grain, meat and vegetables transported from Hanzhong Tuntian, and greatly alleviated the logistical pressure.

"The general can rest assured that he will do his part well, not to disappoint the general, and not to live up to His Majesty's trust!"

Peng Daya said with a smile without the slightest complaint.

The emperor was young and ambitious, and wanted to reshape the defense of Shukou, so the heavy burden was handed over to Cao Youwen and Yu Jue, and he, the chief official in charge of cement production, had an unshirkable responsibility, so he naturally had to do his best and think hard.

Cao Youwen nodded appreciatively.

Cement is a national weapon, and he is also down-to-earth when he is entrusted to a hard-working official like Peng Daya.

"Peng Xianggong, Shukou Biansai, Lizhou East and West Road, all need a lot of cement, and the current output is still too small. I also asked Peng Xianggong to think of some more ways. ”

The Mongol army is going south at any time, and the emperor is going to Shukou at any time, so he can't take it lightly.

"General Cao doesn't need to worry, several other large kilns are being built, and when it comes to March and April, this output will go up, and there will be no delay in the repair of the city wall and official road houses!"

Peng Daya still said with a smile.

The cement is simple and fast, and the houses and city walls that are built should be much stronger, and I believe that it will definitely become a trend of construction in the Great Song Dynasty in the future.

Listen to the emperor said, reinforced concrete, will be the mainstream of housing construction in the future, as long as the scale of the Song Dynasty smelting iron and steelmaking expands, steel continues to be manufactured, reinforced cement is a matter of course, when the time comes, I am afraid that this kind of cement steel house, will be all over the Song Dynasty.

March or April?

Cao Youwen frowned lightly and shook his head secretly.

I don't know, will the Tatar army invade the Song Dynasty in the south at that time? His younger brothers Cao Youwan and Yu Yu and other Great Song soldiers didn't know what was going on in Western Xia?

"Peng Xianggong, I will send someone to recruit people, and I will build roads from the foot of the mountain, all the way to Chuzhou, and then to Sanguan and Wuzhou. With good roads, cement can be transported to the state cities. ”

Only by repairing these remote mountain roads can it be convenient to transport grain and grass, which is also part of the construction of Shukou defense.

Separated from Peng Daya and entered the iron-smelting plant, the furnace fire was dazzling, and the coldness just now was gone, and Cao You smelled the sweat on his forehead and immediately came out. Several craftsmen are constantly taking samples from the furnace with iron drills to see if they meet the standards of high-quality steel. The huge iron furnace tilts slowly, and the fiery molten steel flows into the molds one by one, and the fire is full of light, which makes people dizzy.

This is the experience gained from Daye Iron Works, converter steelmaking, a furnace of steel in a few hours, makes a large amount of steel easier, more than ten times faster than the past open-hearth ironmaking. Good steel can cast better artillery and weapons, strong and durable, and have fewer safety hazards, compared with wrought iron cast artillery, the advantages are clear at a glance.

"True Ambition! Why are you here? ”

Seeing a familiar face, Cao Youwen exclaimed in surprise.

"Cao Youwen, General Cao, why did you come to the iron factory?"

Zhenzhidao was also overjoyed, and shook hands tightly with Cao Youwen, using the greeting method of Jinling Martial Arts Hall.

"I am now the deputy director of the Chuzhou Iron Works, and I am involved in iron smelting and steelmaking, as well as firearms casting. I went to Daye Iron Works last autumn to observe and study, and only came back at the beginning of the year. ”

It was too noisy in front of the furnace, and Zhenzhidao and Cao You smelled it, and Zhenzhidao was not less interested.

"There are more than a dozen students of the Martial Arts Hall here, and thirty or forty graduates of the Jinling University Hall, some of whom you still know. How did you get here? Is there going to be war? How about Lao Yu and Cao Er? ”

"There is a Jin country between the Great Song Dynasty and the Western Xia, so the movements of the Western Xia side and the Tatar army are not very clear."

Cao Youwen shook his head and diverted the topic.

"You're alone? That Wu Min ......"

"It's been divided a long time ago!"

Majido waved his hand, his face a little embarrassed.

The south of the world is northern, one is in the northwest, the other is in the southeast, and it has been separated from the love for a long time, and there is not even a broken thread.

"It's divided, it's divided, and it's all over again. My cousin is good, sixteen years old this year, waiting for the boudoir, ready to go to the Sichuan Normal School. Look everywhere. ”

Cao Youwen said seriously.

True Zhidao's character, he is still relieved.

"I'll talk about that later. Are you available? Let's get together in the evening, I'll be the east, call a few juniors, and Liu Fangning come over today, let's have a good drink! ”

"Liu Fangning?"

Cao You was stunned for a moment, and then understood a little. He shook his head regretfully, not forgetting to advise.

"Your Majesty may arrive at any time, the Tatar army may be about to invade, and the military affairs are busy, I'm afraid it won't work! Lao Zhen, if you have time to come to Chuzhou City, where am I waiting for you! ”

No need to ask, Zhenzhidao and Liu Fangning, who had just been transferred to Lizhou West Road, walked together. These two are classmates in the first phase of Jinling Lecture Wutang, Liu Fangning has a good temperament, like-mindedness, and a match made in heaven.

Counting up, Tian Yi and Wei Sisi, Li Siyu and Zhang Zhongxia, and Lizhou Biansai already have three pairs of partners of Jinling Lecture Wutang.

"General, let's go there now, are we going to the Lizhou camp?"

After leaving the iron factory and going to the official road, the subordinate asked.

"Go to Xihe State!"

The Lizhou battalion has the officers of the martial arts hall to train and recruit new troops, and they are in the rear, and the Lizhou weapons manufacturing branch has Tian Yi and Zheng Tu in charge, and tens of thousands of soldiers in the Lizhou battalion are guarded, and production and safety are not a problem.

In this case, it is better to go back to these border towns and take a look at the city defenses of these dangerous places in case of an invasion by the Mongol army.

"General, Xihe Prefecture Guard General and Commander Lu Wende came to report that in the past two days, some Jin people have fled into the territory one after another, saying that the Tatar army has attacked and plundered Lintao Road, burned, killed and looted."

"Go back and tell Lu Wende to immediately clear the wilderness and beware of the Tatar army!"

Cao Youwen was shocked, and his face did not change and passed the military order.

"A few of you, immediately go to Chengzhou, Fengzhou, and Tongqing Mansion, and pass on our military orders, so that they can immediately clear the wilderness and not delay, otherwise military law will be engaged!

The order was sent to Jiang Wanzai, the commander of the Lizhou East Road, that all the state capitals and counties, the strong walls and the clear fields, and return to the big city, there must be no mistake!

Send an order to the Lizhou battalion to send out rangers and wait for the arrival of the Tatar army!

reported the military situation to the Sichuan Preparation Division, and said that the Tatars invaded the Golden Realm, and the two roads of Lizhou were clear and ready for battle!

Orders were sent to the iron factory and the cement factory, so that they could stop production immediately, and all knives, guns, firearms, etc., should be transferred as soon as possible and sent to Lizhou and Lianglu! ”

When Cao You heard the military order, all the soldiers beat their horses and left. Cao Youwen's gaze involuntarily swept to the southeast.

Emperor, you should have already left, right?

The Mongol army won't really invade the Great Song Dynasty, right?