Lord of the Desert

Chapter 191

After crossing the rammed-earth section where goods are taken, Hongqi stepped on green bricks.

The gate of the state department is opened in the south.

Two huge stone lions about ten feet high guard the roadside with flames in their mouths and gears in their mouths.

Beside the stone lion, Hong Fan saw Wen Zhongguan waiting here.

He is now the supervisor of the Fifth Grade Young Master, wearing a brand-new blue official uniform, boots and a crown, and he is three points less gangster than when he was in Jinhai.

It is a great joy to meet an old acquaintance in a foreign land.

The two happily raised their arms, asked each other about Yue Lai's recent situation, and entered together after sending a red flag.

Inside the high wall, Hong Fan walked along the central axis, observing the well-defined buildings.

In the distance to his left, a huge gray-white smoke column rose from behind the eaves of the building, hooking into the sky.

The rumbling sound came non-stop, but because of the distance, it seemed a little hollow.

"The cement factory is next to the city wall in the west, and the output is the same in Dahua as a whole."

Wen Zhongguan explained, giving a thumbs up with his right hand.

"The factory occupies a pier by itself, which is convenient for water fetching, as well as for the exchange of raw materials and goods."

"cement?"

Hong Fan was stunned.

It's not a word you'd expect to hear.

"Is that volcanic ash mortar?"

he asked.

"You know a lot, even volcanic ash?"

Wen Zhongguan wondered.

"That thing is only available in Zhanzhou. It can resist water intrusion and be used to build a dock to defend the aquarium."

"But we don't make that kind of primitive stuff here."

He spoke with complacency and became more and more interested.

"The amount of volcanic ash is too small to be mass-produced, and the resulting mortar doesn't perform well."

"The cement in the State Department is different."

"Mix special clay with limestone, burn it in a kiln at high temperature, grind it into powder after cooling, and add a certain amount of fine stone."

"The cement produced in this way is extremely strong, and with steel bones inside, it will take a lot of effort to destroy the Yuan Magnetic level combat power!"

"From front to back, the formula of cement has been changed for seven or eight years. Zhuang Dajian finally secured his position thanks to this merit."

"Most of the cement produced now is supplied to Beijiang and Shenjing. It is said that the giant spirit has been forced to give up the trebuchet..."

Hong Fan was filled with admiration upon hearing this.

Although Wen Zhongguan said it was easy, but he knew how many tricks there could be in these simple materials and processes.

The ratio of calcium silicate to calcium aluminate in clay, the temperature and time of heating, how to grind after cooling, the ratio of adding fine stone (gypsum)...

And most importantly, where to find the rich ore of the several raw materials used above.

This is by no means something that the traversers can produce in mass production after a few afternoons of testing.

The two walked while talking, and turned into the building complex in the east.

This side is divided into yards of different sizes.

The sound of discussion, hammering, and dragging heavy objects jumped and converged in the courtyard, falling on Hong Fan's ears.

"It's still early, let me show you where we are now."

As Wen Zhongguan said, he stopped under the plaque that said "Second Second Courtyard", and pushed open the door.

This is a yard that can be regarded as big all the way.

Hong Fan followed closely into the room, feeling dark in front of his eyes.

The first courtyard has an area of ​​more than 300 square meters, one side is along the wall and three sides are surrounded by wing rooms.

Square tarps were roped to the eaves, presumably to keep out the rain.

Under the square cloth, there are two strange creations on display.

The inside is a half-formed wooden frame, seven meters long from end to end, with a pair of butterfly-shaped frame wings connected by long wooden strips, half of which have been covered with tanned leather.

On the outside, there are more than a dozen two-meter-square dark varnished cloth surfaces, as well as a miniature ellipsoid model made of bamboo strips.

"Qian Hong, Xiao Zhu, Xiao Jia, look who is here?!"

Wen Zhongguan shouted loudly.

Suddenly, many people rushed out of the room, except for the three people who had known each other for a long time in Jinhai, there were also seven or eight unfamiliar faces.

"But Mr. Hong Fan from Jinhai City?"

There is a clever and cheerful guess.

It was the first time for Wen Qian and his new subordinates to see someone coming.

But they have only been together for a month, and they have heard Hong Fan's name and deeds countless times from their superiors.

"Sure enough, the Second Young Master has arrived!"

Zhu Jingfu wiped the black paint off his hands with his coat, and came up to shake Hong Fan's hand.

Behind him, Jia Ziyong was wearing a thick leather skirt, holding a half-polished iron rod in his hand.

Hong Fan couldn't help laughing out loud, and put his arms around their shoulders.

When acquaintances meet, the huge courtyard is filled with happiness.

"Hong Fan, look at the two guys in this yard!"

With one hand on his hip, Qian Hong pointed to the wooden frame and bamboo strips on the ground with the other.

"Do you know what Wen Shaojian and I are doing now?"

Hong Fan smiled when he heard that.

He knew it at first sight.

"You guys are trying to take away the good fortune of the flying bird!"

Hearing this, everyone in the courtyard felt excited.

Qian Hong wanted to speak again, but Hong Fan preempted him.

"You want to ask me this time, who do you think can succeed?"

Qian Hong was taken aback for a moment, and nodded his head.

"If you want me to say, it can be done!"

Hong Fan replied.

Qian Hong is serious, how can he be satisfied with this answer?
But the other party's next sentence "the same goal by different routes" finally made him die.

After several rounds of pleasantries, Wen Zhongguan led Hong Fan, who was visiting for the first time, around, like a lion king showing off his new territory.

"Now I am a junior supervisor, and Qian Hong has been promoted to a master craftsman. They are all leading projects independently."

"The second hospital has 3000 taels a year, I get two thousand, and Qian Hong gets one thousand, which is much more than when we were in Jinhai!"

Several people were talking, and walked past several wing rooms on the west side.

In the corner of the first room was a blast furnace, next to which was a blacksmith's tool set.

Jia Ziyong was leading several artisans to work here just now.

His task is mundane and boring - making iron nails.

It's technically simple, but the process is quite complex.

Raise the fire, heat the iron embryos, forge them into thin sticks, and cut them into specified lengths by hand.

This is the rough embryo of the nail.

Then pier the head, tap the tip, polish, and finally perform heat treatment such as quenching and annealing.

After so many steps, a usable iron nail can be obtained.

[It turns out that before the appearance of cutting machines and wire drawing machines, iron nails were made in this way...]

Hong Fan looked at it with relish, picked up a nail and looked at it carefully.

"This nail is so difficult to make, and it tastes like a luxury."

He remembered the "manual customization" in his previous life and smiled.

"What do you mean, where is the nail not a luxury?"

Wen Zhongguan wondered.

"Wealthy country people often burn down their houses when they move, just to recover nails from the ashes."

Jia Ziyong also interfaced.

"The second son grew up in the city, but he didn't know that in some remote places, nails can even be used as money!"

Hong Fan was dumb when he heard the words, as if he had realized something.

In the second wing room, many leather cloths are drying.

"My giant sky lantern is inspired by the sky lantern."

Qian Hong introduced.

"Sky lanterns need to fly in the sky for a long time, the most important thing is to be strong and light."

"I tried a dozen materials and found that linen was the strongest, not only hard to tear, but also hard to cut with a knife."

"But the problem with linen is that the fibers are so hollow that it can't hold the heat, so I've tried different paints on the cloth..."

(End of this chapter)