System, help me be an empress

Chapter 76 The Birth of Cement

In the first year of Tianyou, on the second day of July, the Shengong Bureau, which is famous in the history of Daqian, was born.

The location was set in a large deserted courtyard in the outskirts of Shangjing.

After Xu Youxi left the morning court, he immediately brought a hundred or so guards here to clean up, and then spent two full hours calling for people to hire dozens of experienced craftsmen from nearby areas to join.

"The area near the courtyard is all fenced up and put into the Shengong Bureau." Xu Youxi strode forward, directing the Jin Yiwei beside him.

"Your Majesty, even if you go to the city to find a master to make the plaque now, the soonest you can get it is tomorrow." Xu Ling wondered.

"It's too late, bring the empty plaque and a pen." Xu Youxi hurriedly ordered.

Soon, Xu Youxi finished writing on the plaque, and the imperial guards next to him began to carve the plaque by themselves according to Xu Youxi's words.

After being busy until the evening, Xu Youxi asked Jin Yiwei to bring Wen Deyi, the director of Shengong Bureau, over.

"Your Majesty, this, this is the Shengong Bureau?"

The minister of the Ministry of Industry looked proudly at the crumbling plaque, the threshold overgrown with weeds, and the broken wooden door with pits and holes, and gradually fell into contemplation.

"Naturally. I wrote the inscription myself, it's genuine." Xu Youxi didn't have much confidence in what he said, so he could only change the subject, "Let's take Wen Shangshu inside to have a look first."

The courtyard was even more clean, with nothing left. Dozens of craftsmen stood obediently in a row in the distance of the courtyard, looking around from time to time, as if they were waiting to be assigned tasks.

How does it look like a refugee shelter!
Before Xu Youxi could figure out how to confess and be lenient, Wen Deyi spoke first.

"It turns out that the Shengong Bureau is so tight in terms of expenses." Wen Deyi was full of melancholy, "Your Majesty, you must not give up on the Shengong Bureau. I believe that the embarrassment in the Bureau is only temporary, and it will return to the past in the future." splendor."

"...Then Master Shangshu, work hard?"

"The minister will live up to His Majesty's high expectations."

Seeing the high fighting spirit on Wen Shangshu's face, Xu Youxi's conscience ached: "Wen Shangshu has worked hard, I will let you take one month's leave, you don't have to go to court, and you don't have to deal with the affairs of the Ministry of Industry, so you will be responsible for running the Shengong Bureau well?"

I was flattered to hear it!
And such good things? !
"Also, I have two recipes here, which are the treasures of the Shengong Bureau! It records the priceless treasure in the legend: the production method of cement and concrete."

"Your Majesty, I don't know what cement is?"

Wen Deyi subconsciously felt that the priceless treasure His Majesty was talking about should not be as simple as mud in the water, right?

"Cement is a kind of powder. It can be quickly solidified after being mixed with water. It can be used to build dams and pave roads, including the bonding between bricks and tiles. "

Wen Deyi took the cement formula carefully, with a look of anticipation in his eyes.

"Sir Shang Shu, please tell me what kind of tools you need. I will leave a guard at your disposal at any time. The limestone and abandoned iron ore were transported to Beijing last night, and they will be delivered tonight."

"Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will go all out to make the Divine Works Bureau flourish." Wen Deyi knelt down moved.

"I also believe that Wen Shangshu will definitely live up to his expectations."

Xu Youxi couldn't stay any longer, so he found a random reason and left the Shengong Bureau.

#
What Xu Youxi never expected was that only on the fifth day after the Shengong Bureau was established, the palace received good news.

"Cement" is made!

When Xu Youxi rushed over, Wen Deyi was struggling to close the lid of the huge ampulla-shaped subway furnace with her bare arms.

The process of making cement is difficult to say, but it is definitely not so easy to say simple.

The workers made the crushed limestone and the discarded iron into powder overnight. The process of crushing the stone is divided into first beating and then repeated grinding. Finally, the two parts of the powder are mixed and calcined into lime clinker.

The most difficult part is the calcination step. In order to make this process go smoothly, Wen Deyi personally went to find an old friend to make a huge ampulla-shaped stove, and commanded the imperial guards to hang the stove with iron chains. Both sides of the iron furnace have removable lids, and the bottom of the furnace burns continuously to maintain the high temperature in the furnace.

The furnace needs to be turned over every few hours, and a small amount of material needs to be continuously taken out of the furnace during this period to test whether the lime is fired successfully.

It was also the first time for Wen Deyi to make cement. Before that, he had never even heard of the existence of this thing, but he just had an inexplicable obsession, and he would definitely be able to make this thing.

When the workers complained that the crushed limestone could not be ground into powder at all, they took a hammer and beat it by themselves.

Hitting was really difficult, so Wen Deyi kept thinking of ways to improve it. He set up a huge hammer again, pulled it up, smashed it down, and repeated it several times, but it was a little easier.

Wen Deyi didn't sleep a wink for at least three of the five days. He still didn't feel tired. His body was covered in dust, and he repeatedly added water to the polished lime powder to test the cement's solidification time and its hardness after solidification.

"Your Majesty, this solidified cement is indeed hard enough. If it is mixed with aggregates to become concrete, it will be even harder. This is much harder than bricks and stones!"

"Cement is indispensable whether it is used to pave roads or participate in construction." Xu Youxi squatted down and touched the solidified cement on the ground, excited, "Master Wen has made a great contribution this time!"

"Your Majesty, according to the recipe, the finished lime powder needs to be stored for three to five days before it can be used; when it is used, it will take an additional day or two for the cement to completely solidify." Wen Deyi entrusted, "There is also a formula for concrete. I think it is just mixing cement with aggregate, and that's it."

"Okay!" Xu Youxi stood up, "Master Wen, please arrange to pack the polished lime powder into bags, and I will send someone to send it to Pingshun Mansion immediately. Master Wen will take advantage of these few days to summarize the experience of lime manufacturing. Several large-scale cement manufacturing factories will be built nearby to export lime in large quantities to all parts of the world."

"Okay, I will continue to make more cement." Although Wen Deyi had a smile on his face, he couldn't hide the redness in his eyes. He looked a bit embarrassed and a bit funny.

"Master Wen, after sorting out the cement manufacturing experience, go home and rest for a few days. The Shengong Bureau is the Shengong Bureau. The task of processing cement is handed over to the Imperial Guards to complete."

"What will the minister do next?" Wen Deyi asked.

"Why is there nothing to do! I still remember the Jenny textile machine I told you at the time. Unfortunately, there are only eight spindles installed. In a few days, I will let Jin Yiwei carry it to the Shengong Bureau for Mr. Wen. You can see if there is a way to go up. Add spindles, the more spindles the better!"

"I understand."

"One more thing, give me a try and see if you can make a glass mirror." Xu Youxi briefly introduced the purpose and appearance of the glass mirror.

The chemistry book that Xu Youxi got later recorded the method of making the mercury mirror, which happened to be handed over to Wen Deyi to make it.

"It's so miraculous?!" Wen Deyi's interest rose, and he even started dancing.

This state is quite different from the lifeless state of standing in the hall every day.

Seeing Wen Deyi's excited appearance, Xu Youxi felt complicated. She felt that the fake "Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry" seemed to be able to let him go forever.

(End of this chapter)