farming female castellan

Chapter 236 Burning Bricks, Planning to Pave the Road

Chen Fan put down the meat he just picked up: "How is the style of the Qi family? How is the character of the Qi family?"

She didn't know about it before.

"It's okay." Xiang Jian said it very simply, and Chen Fan didn't ask any more.It's okay to be able to say the last sentence, it shouldn't be too much.

Refugees can no longer be called refugees, they live in the village, they should be called villagers, they are villagers of Changping Township.Chen Fan sent them several days' worth of food and firewood, and they could cook at home for these two days.

Won't leave them hungry and won't make them too full.Those who work can receive an extra portion of food, which attracts many envious eyes.

The workshop where the loess was dug has built a shed, and the loess has not been drenched in snow.The river mud and sand are also covered by sheds.

The life of stepping on the mud continues.It is too cold and inefficient for people to step on mud in winter.Zhang Ci decided to use cattle instead of manpower.Several round pits were dug next to the workshop, and the bottom of the pits was paved with flat stones.The yellow mud was mixed with water and poured into the pit. A few cows were brought in, blindfolded, and the cows were led by ropes to turn and walk, constantly stepping and stirring.

Carpenters made hundreds of molds, in various sizes, half the thickness of normal bricks.

The specification of one foot per side was proposed by Chen Fan, and Zhang Ci raised a question: "Will it be easily broken if the area is too large? How can I repair it if it is broken? Usually, the bricks used to build a house are smaller and easy to replace. Other places can Buy it, don’t worry about not having enough materials.”

"What kind of bricks are laid on the ground in the capital?"

"There are indeed such big ones in the capital city, but the craftsmanship requirements in the capital city are high, the firing time is long, and the quality of the fired bricks is good. This side may be rough."

Chen Fan looked at him: "I just want to try." Try this kind of square floor tiles.

"If it's smaller, you can use a half-foot square." She also didn't understand the bearing capacity of bricks on a carriage.

Zhang Ci smiled: "Try all kinds."

The river sand is turned over and over in the sun when the weather is fine. It is basically dry, and the fine ones are screened out with a sieve.Lime was also brought in from afar.According to the ratio he knew, Zhang Ci asked the villagers to fully mix the loess, yellow sand and lime.Hundreds of villagers put the mud into the mold to shape it, scraped it flat, and then demolded it.

The mud in winter is not easy to dry.The craftsmen set up several stoves, put the bricks in and dried them with hot air, and then took them out.

After two days of light snowfall, the weather cleared up and there was no snow on the ground.Many villagers who were nestled at home ran out for activities, and they wanted to see how the crushed ground was.

Fortunately, the road is only wet, not rotten.They tried to walk, sticking their feet, but they didn't step into mud puddles.

Everyone cheered and rushed to the workshop at various speeds to see how the bricks were being made there.

Two brick kilns have been set up in the past few days, and they are like two cute little houses.

2 yuan of adobe bricks are placed on the shelves on the floor of the workshop, which is neat and spectacular.

"Why are there thin ones and thick ones?"

"Can it be so thin that you can build a wall?"

"It doesn't look like bricks for a wall, does it?"

"I heard it's going to be laid on the ground." Someone had better information.

"Put it on the ground, so you don't need to have a deep foot and a shallow foot in rainy days?"

The workers started to put bricks into the kiln.

Due to the different sizes of bricks, Zhang Ci also discussed some placement methods and spacing issues with the kiln workers.He and Chen Fan watched the workers place the bricks the whole time, and checked whether the distance between the bricks could always maintain the specification.

In order to ensure the temperature of the kiln, Zhang Ci sent people to buy a batch of coal and use it with firewood.The ink stick and Xiangjian are responsible for recording the temperature and time of the fire, as well as what other operations were done during the fire.

The two took the children around.Watch the people plowing the ground, weeding, cleaning up the stones and sundries in the fields, watching the road conditions in each village, and let the children record, draw pictures, and analyze road construction and planting and breeding plans.

After waiting for three days, it was time to open the kiln.The kiln workers slowly pour water into the kiln from the top of the kiln.

Children don't understand this operation, so they naturally ask why.

"If we start the kiln and take out the bricks now, will it work?" Chen Fan asked a question first.

The children shook their heads.

"The temperature inside is very high, and it will take several days to cool down. If you take it now, your fingers will burn off." Chen Ya said.

"That's the reason. Watering is to shorten the cooling time of the bricks. The water should be poured slowly and seep down slowly. When it encounters high temperature in the kiln, it will turn into water vapor, absorb the heat in the kiln, and let the inside slowly Cooling. This process can also turn red bricks into blue bricks." Chen Fan explained bit by bit.

Opening a kiln is not a one-and-a-half thing.Chen Fan and the others looked at it for a while and then went back first.

As the sun gradually moved towards the west, more and more people gathered around the brick kilns.

When the kiln door opened, Chen Fan was very excited. This was the first time for her to witness the process of burning bricks with her own eyes.Zhang Ci was a little apprehensive, he didn't know what the outcome would be.

The bricks are moved out one by one and passed to the designated site.The discussion of the crowd of onlookers boiled up.

Perhaps because of uneven heating in different locations, the situation of the bricks is a little different.Some are exposed to high temperature to form a little glaze, like ceramic tiles.

Girls like this kind of brick very much, saying it is so beautiful.Chen Fan ordered such bricks to be placed in another place.

They are still getting bricks out there, and Chen Fan and Zhang Ci have already started testing.

They spread the bricks on the ground, stood on them, and asked the children to stand on them or step on them.

The floor tiles of the other kids are fine.Chen Zhongzhu stomped his foot desperately, and several cracks appeared on the floor tiles.He panicked, looked at Zhang Ci: "What should I do?"

"It's okay," Zhang Ci smiled: "If you smash it, you can continue to use it."

He threw the floor tile to the ground, and the floor tile broke into several pieces.He picked up one piece, looked at it, tapped it on the ground again, and said to Chen Fan, "It's hard enough. It's enough for walking on the ground. A carriage can also walk."

"So it was a success?"

"Successful." Zhang Ci was very happy.

On the carriage home, Zhang Ci couldn't help laughing all the time.Chen Fan also kept looking at him and smiling.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" He finally managed to control his lips.

"I saw a fool, so I looked at it curiously for a while." Chen Fan said with a smile.

Zhang Ci was not annoyed, and hugged her: "Idiots know how to burn floor tiles. Arrange people to pave the road tomorrow."

Chen Fan nodded slightly, and patted him on the back: "Pave partly with floor bricks, partly with mellow soil, and partly with earthen bricks, so that every village in Changping Township can have a good road to walk on."

"Adobe bricks are the kind that are dried?"

"Yes, this kind of dried clay brick is equivalent to being fried, and it is also convenient for paving roads. It can be used in places with relatively high terrain. Small stones dug from rivers and fields can also be used to pave roads when mixed with mud."

On the eighth day of the lunar new year, thousands of villagers went to the designated paving site in batches with the village as the unit.Those who don't want to work and receive food just gather around to watch the fun and make sarcastic remarks.

"You are really stupid. You can work for at least ten cents a day. Now you are sent away with a few mouthfuls of food."

"No way, if you don't work, you won't get food, if you don't have food, you will starve to death."

Some people were not convinced: "Don't all the people have to serve corvee? Changping Township also has to serve corvée? This is not a private job of the township ruler's family, it is something done for the whole township."

The onlookers continued to laugh: "Your Majesty didn't say that this is corvée labor. Besides, how can anyone who wants to do corvée do so, and refuse to do so if he doesn't want to?"

Mo Jian and the others didn't intervene, just remembering the faces and identities of those people with cold eyes.

(End of this chapter)