"Xiangye, this is the cement you want?" Qin Xiangru put his head up.

Chen Chao shook his head, not very sure.

"It's not fully formed, it's just clinker, and you have to add auxiliary materials to stir it."

Chen Chao knew that this thing was only a half-finished product, but it was enough to excite him.

It seems that the calcination temperature has been overcome by Master Wu's old trick.

One of the most difficult steps was solved by Master Wu.

The birth of cement was only a matter of time.

After a while, Master Wu walked out of the brick kiln with a red face, his hair was scorched, his eyebrows were gone, he was extremely embarrassed, and he was holding a wooden box in his arms.

"It's done, cement!"

Master Wu proudly put the finished cement in front of everyone.

Chen Chao lowered his head, looked carefully, and glanced at Master Wu again, he really wanted to hug him and kiss him fiercely.

This old thing, it's absolutely amazing.

Next, it's time for experimentation. Chen Chao instructed that the cement, which had not yet been completely cooled, be mixed with sand and gravel, and the water should be stirred evenly to turn into a pile of mud.

Take local materials, find some green bricks anywhere, use a shovel to evenly apply cement on a green brick, and then press it with another green brick, gently pat it with your hand, let it be fully bonded, and so on, when a green brick wall made of cement is formed, Chen Chao is full of confidence.

But the cement needs a certain amount of time to cool before the bricks can be fully bonded, so Chen Chao led a large group of people to keep watch from early afternoon until late at night.

The torches were lit, and the crowd took a closer look and found that the cement had completely solidified.

When you touch it with your hand, it has a hard touch.

"It's stronger and more reliable than yellow mud." In this era, the adhesive was mainly mixed with yellow mud and straw, which was far less solid than cement.

"If anyone can tear down the brick wall without tools, he will be rewarded with a hundred taels of gold."

As soon as these words came out, the people present were eager to try, and some officers and soldiers put down their weapons, tightened their wrist guards, shouted, and pulled the blue brick wall with both hands, exerting all their strength, but the brick wall stood still.

He stepped back a few more feet, ran some distance, and kicked against the brick wall.

With a "bang", his feet were numb, and the brick wall still didn't move.

He did not believe in evil, so he called a few companions and pushed forward together.

The result was also in vain.

"It's so hard!"

In the end, only one conclusion can be drawn.

Chen Chao smiled with satisfaction, looked at Master Wu, the great hero who produced cement, and his eyes were full of appreciation, "Cement, can it be mass-produced?" ”

"Yes, but we need to expand the brick kiln and find a few more veterans for Lao Suo."

"It's a deal!"

……

……

After that, with the full support of Chen Chao, cement soon entered the mass production stage.

The workers who mine limestone are multiplied by a multiplier, and although the work is tiring, the pay is attractive, and the registration office is packed.

As for Master Wu, who mastered the core secrets of cement, he was protected by the Chen Dynasty and listed as a guest. Served with good food and drink every day, paid his salary, and even gave him an idle position in the Ministry of Works.

Master Wu, who only knew how to burn bricks all his life, turned into an official and became an official.

It has become the focus of discussion among the people of Qingshan County these days.

At present, the reconstruction of Qingshan County is proceeding in an orderly manner, and the ruins of the urban area have been cleared out, and the foundation has been dug for the construction of houses.

The Chen dynasty's proposal to build houses with brick and stone mixed with cement was protested by some officials, arguing that the people of Qingshan County were not qualified to live in such sturdy and reliable houses.

The birth of cement should be hoarded to build more comfortable mansions for the nobles of the capital, and then the city wall should be built.

The stalemate continued, and the Chen dynasty resorted to violent means.

He raised his sword and, in front of everyone, cut down a mediocre official who usually only squeaked and screamed, as an example, and put down the cruel words:

"Everything is for the benefit of the people, not for the personal gain of a small group of people!"

These words were remembered by some officials for a lifetime and presented to the altar.

In the first year of Yongxing, on the day of the thirtieth day of the Chinese New Year's Eve, in the surprised eyes of many officials, the Chen Dynasty personally built the first wall with cement for the reconstruction of Qingshan County.

Seeing the workers working in full swing, Chen Chao showed a pleased smile.

"Big brother, this can't work? The walls are crooked, and they will be hidden dangers in the future. ”

Suddenly, a discordant voice drilled into Chen Chao's ears. Chen Chao looked over when he heard the sound and found that it was a young man who spoke, twenty-five or sixteen years old, born strong, with thick eyebrows and big eyes.

Just when the other officials wanted to step forward and teach this short-sighted Diao Min a lesson, they were blocked back by Chen Chao with his eyes.

Chen Chao put down the brick knife and humbly asked for advice, "Oh? So what do you say? ”

"You should find a line that is taut and straight, and follow this line to build it, if you want to be horizontal and vertical, beautiful, you should also make a line vertically, just like me." The man demonstrated, and he looked like it.

In the process of watching, Chen Chao found a problem, he found that this young man is also a novice, and the theory is a set of theories, but in practice, it is not as good as building it himself.

The man also seemed to have discovered this problem, and reached out to touch the back of his head embarrassedly, grinning, "I've only been studying with the master for a long time, don't be surprised, big brother." ”

Chen Chao smiled, casually found a clean place to sit down, drank a sip of water and rested for a while.

Looking at the honest young man in front of him, calling himself "big brother" one by one, Chen Chao's heart relaxed for no reason.

is accustomed to seeing those officials who have one thing on the surface and another set behind their backs, such honest and honest ordinary people make Chen Chao more relaxed and cordial.

"Look at your appearance, big brother, you're not from the engineering team, are you?" The man asked as he built the wall. Although Chen Chao only wore a single coat and was sweating profusely, looking at the material of his single clothes, it was very smooth, not the coarse linen clothes on their bodies.

Chen Chao shook his head, "No. ”

The strong man bent down and dug a spoonful of cement with a brick knife, laid it flat on the brick, and gently compacted it with another brick, and over time he built the wall into a good one, at least it didn't look so awkward.

"What's your name?" Chen Chao asked.

"Wang Xiaoer."

Chen Chaoyi raised his eyebrows, remembering that he seemed to have seen this name on the list of rewards.

"Aren't you a stonemason? How did you run to work as a mason. ”

Wang Xiaoer originally signed up as a stonemason, with 25 yuan a day, and was supposed to be assigned to the mining area to mine limestone, but because the cement had not been officially produced at that time, the required manpower was not very manpower, so Wang Xiaoer was simply arranged to go to the city to clean up the ruins.

It's just that now, how can a hard-working hand do the handiwork?

Wang Xiaoer smiled, and the movements in his hands did not stop, "Masons earn a lot." ”

It's such a simple reason, Wang Xiaoer was promoted to the captain of the second engineering team a few days ago, and he has twenty or thirty people in his hands every day, all of whom work hard.

But Wang Xiaoer was not willing to accept the status quo, and found a master who knew how to mason and took him to build a wall.

No, just out of school.

"How much money you make......" Chen Chao listened to it and smiled, "Earn so much money, what are you going to do in the future?" Giving a daughter-in-law to your son? Or prepare a dowry for your daughter? ”

"The child is still young, I am going to earn money to buy a piece of land first, and then buy a house, preferably with a yard, like building like this now, I heard that it is very strong, and no matter how heavy the snow is, it will not collapse."

"You'll get your way."

"Really?"

Wang Xiaoer turned his head and said in surprise.

Chen Chao nodded, got up and handed the brick to Wang Xiaoer.

Soon, with the help of the two of them, the wall was more than one person tall.

Wang Xiaoer's dirty palm touched the wall, and his eyes were full of envy.

If such a house is built, it will never collapse, and her wife and children will not be frozen.

"Xiangye, Madame is here."

"Huh? Here it comes. ”

Chen Chao responded and patted Wang Xiaoer's shoulder, "I still have something to do here, I'll come over to help you later." ”

Wang Xiaoer turned his head, "Okay." ”

Looking at the back of Chen Chao when he left, Wang Xiaoer was a little confused, why did others call him "Xiangye"?

Who the hell is he?