The three main raw materials of cement – limestone, clay and iron ore – have been found, grinding limestone and clay together into raw meal. It's a lot of work.

Qin Liu's practice is to use the stone milled by oxen and horses to grind the limestone and clay.

Next, the raw meal is calcined until it is partially or completely melted, which is called clinker.

Finally, the clinker is ground with iron powder or iron slag to obtain cement.

Making grinding tools is a laborious process.

Qin Liu had to sigh, it was so difficult to start everything from scratch.

Her vision for the future is to use cast iron platforms for crushing and grinding after successful ironmaking.

Ten days later, the first batch of cement was finally made.

Qin Liu gave it a try.

Mix water and good cement, mix small stones and build a half-human high wall.

After a few days, the wall was as strong as the Great Wall built by the Ming Dynasty!

The jaws dropped as the herders witnessed how the wall was built.

When the brick kiln was opened, Old Man Lou came back from Shabaozi Town and brought back a few mason craftsmen.

Qin Liu looked at the masons who were either old or young, and his forehead twitched.

"Can't you find a few prime masons?"

Old man Lou still held his hands and shoulders back: "The shopkeeper, the men in the prime of life have families, who is willing to come to our bitter cold place?" These skills are very good, you can use them with confidence! ”

Qin Liu can't, and he can't.

However, to her surprise, the bricks in the brick kiln actually came out of green bricks!

She was overjoyed.

Before the brick kiln was opened, whether it was green bricks or red bricks was like a gamble.

Only those craftsmen with extremely rich experience can grasp the effect of water injection and cooling, and there is a high probability of obtaining green bricks.

Red bricks are semi-finished, and although they can be used, they are not as strong and durable as green bricks.

Green bricks, cement, and craftsmen gather, and the great cause of building a house can officially begin.

As for the sewer pipes, porcelain faucets, and other items, Qin Liu was a little worried.

Her original intention was to invite the owner of the porcelain kiln near Shabaozi Town who cooperated well with her to Duolun to help her make them, but unfortunately when Old Man Lou went to invite them, they refused to come at all.

Do you want to make a porcelain kiln yourself?

Qin Liu only felt exhausted.

There is no industrial supporting facilities on the grassland, and she has to make everything by herself, which is really hard.

Fortunately, there are many curious and enthusiastic people in this group of herdsmen, especially those teenagers who are very interested in the novelties brought by Qin Liu, and they are the most motivated followers.

Qin Liu did not hide his selfishness, taught all the techniques of making bricks and cement, and also let them participate in the production process.

For those teenagers who were very enthusiastic, she promoted several and put them in charge of making bricks and cement respectively.

Qin Liu had an idea.

Can she also train professional and technical personnel in porcelain production on the spot?

Qin Liu remembered the location of a china clay mine.

She took two herdsmen and told them about the principles and recipes of making porcelain kilns, porcelain blanks, and several glaze recipes.

Let them try their hand at porcelain-making.

She just couldn't keep herself busy.

These two herdsmen were very clever, using the grinding equipment used to make cement to grind the porcelain clay into powder, and make porcelain blanks and glazes according to Qin Liu's recipe.

He also learned the structure of a brick kiln and built a small porcelain kiln with green bricks and cement.

When the first batch of porcelain was fired, Qin Liu was really excited.

This shows that she can also train professionals just by doing technical guidance!

With the addition of porcelain, the building project has been strengthened.

After the first brick house with running water was built, all the herders came to visit.

The hot kang, the automatic water tap in the kitchen, the shower head, the sewer and the squatting pit are an eye-opener for the herders.

The brick-built sheepfold that blocks the wind and the wolf, and there is also a drinking trough that can release water and drink the sheep, so that the herdsmen sighed: "It would be good if this sheepfold could be taken away!" ”

Some of the old herdsmen who were worried about the danger consulted with Bars.

"This house is good, we can live well in winter. But what about the animals? We herdsmen have to live in this place all the time, and when the grass is eaten, won't the cattle and sheep starve to death? ”

Bars had thought about this question for a long time.

"If we want, we can sell the fattened meat sheep to the people of the Ming Dynasty in exchange for some grain. Leave some lambs and pregnant ewes, so that most of the forage can be reduced, combined with manual grass back to stack, can solve part of the problem. ”

For some remote grasslands, the only way to live in a dispersed manner is to be adopted.

But if they can live by the prince and his Han fiancée, who is willing to live in isolation and herd sheep?

In exchange for food with meat sheep and Daming, Qin Liu had already entrusted Old Man Lou to explore the news of Shabaozi Town, which was recognized by the two brothers, Ma Ang and Ma Yue.

And Old Man Lou and the Ming army guarding the pass in Dushikou Town also reached an agreement, and it was also fair to exchange some meat and sheep for some grain and other items.

This was a source of great joy for the herders who followed them.

Old man Lou even brought back some iron tools from Daming—specially made tools for harvesting and pasture.

This tool is transformed from a rib car, and between the two large wooden wheels is an iron bearing with a special structure, and the rotation of the bearing drives the rotation of a set of tools to automatically cut horizontally.

When used, the herdsman only uses to sit on the rib cart to drive the cattle or horses forward, and the knife cuts the grass horizontally, cutting a large piece at a time, and the grass roots are not hurt quickly.

This is much faster than herders cutting the grass by hand.

After a few days of mowing and drying, a rake converted from a rib truck gathers the dried grass into a long strip-like pile.

Finally, a baler converted from a rib truck came over and compacted the grass piled up into a long strip of hay, piled it on the ground, and waited for someone to turn around and carry the haystack back to the house with the rib truck.

Mechanized production tools have been improved, although the power is still the traditional cattle and horses, and the production efficiency can be greatly improved.

Winter is coming, and the cattle and sheep live in warmer pens, which are not so cold, and the forage consumption is less.

Herders had also thought about making haystacks before, but the labor cost was too high and it was difficult to achieve.

This method can take back the dry grass before the arrival of the white hair wind and pile up mountains for livestock to use in winter, which is a great progress.

The herdsmen of Duolun and the 100 herdsmen who followed Qin Liu have reached a new level of respect for Bars and Qin Liu.

New and sturdy houses, coal that can be used for heating that cannot be dug underground, underground well water, stacks of hay, and cattle and sheep that do not need to run over have formed a new grazing mode - settled grazing.

……

After more than two busy months, the herdsmen have moved into warm and spacious brick houses, the livestock have moved into houses that can shelter from the wind and snow, and the first white-haired wind on the grassland has also come.

Although the number of houses built is limited, and each family is only allocated one or two rooms, it is spacious enough compared to yurts.

The deal with Daming for meat and sheep for grain went very smoothly.