Kai Fu Han

Chapter 85 Construction
The day after the funeral, work was already in full swing at the Baishiwan New Liujiabao construction site.

The scene was full of people and horses roaring!
Tremendous chants sounded in unison, and several people worked together to pull up the ramming wood and compact the flat ground.

People were moving earth and stone slabs, and more than 100 horse-drawn carts were moving back and forth.

As human-powered cranes, warriors appeared everywhere where strong men were needed, greatly speeding up the construction progress.

"Drainage must be done well. The ditches must be built with refractory bricks and covered with stone slabs. There will be typhoons at the seaside every year, and there will be a lot of rainfall. If drainage is not done well, the city will definitely be flooded." Liu Xinqi walked around the construction site Inspection and arrangements were made for Liu Lisheng beside him.

"The ditches on the main roads are three feet wide and six feet deep. People can walk inside, so it should be enough." Liu Lisheng replied.

"It is ok."

Since cement has not yet been produced, it is unrealistic to build a wider and deeper drainage system. Therefore, Liu Xinqi did not say much about Liu Lisheng's complacency.

"Although a large amount of adobe bricks will be used when building houses later, fire-fired bricks will be used in places such as foundations and corner pillars." Liu Xinqi explained again: "There will be more and more brick kilns in the future, and the supply of fire-fired bricks will also be increasing. , will certainly be able to keep up with the construction demand.”

If adobe bricks are used as the foundation, the wall will collapse if it is soaked by rainwater for a year or two. If the foundation is made of fire-burned bricks, it will be much more durable.

After staying at the construction site for a few days, Liu Xinqi returned to Penglai on a cargo ship that transported construction materials and supplies back and forth on the day the dragon raised his head in early February.

Today Zhao Liang will take the fleet south again. Except for the eight cargo ships that will not go south this time, other ships will go south together, including the two thousand-stone Wendeng and Huangxian. There are a total of eight ships, large and small.

This trip south is still to buy food. It is estimated that this will be the only mission for the next year until Liujiapu has other more stable sources of food.

After sending off Zhao Liang's fleet in the morning, Liu Xinqi came to Liu's warehouse and found Liu Zhimu in a research room.

"The apprentices you brought are very good. Now the brick kilns in Baishiwan are developing very well. The temperature of the newly built kiln is already very high. It can burn the sand until it melts. It is estimated to have reached [-] to [-] degrees. I've already explained to them the principle of refining coke into coke, and I hope they can refining coke as soon as possible." Liu Xinqi said to Liu Zhimu.

"According to the temperature standard you mentioned, the coke combustion temperature can reach 1500 degrees. At that time, glass and cement can be refined, and iron ore can even be directly burned into molten iron. If these are true, these products will be like what you said It is so miraculous, it is really a feat of ingenuity." Liu Zhimu said.

"Of course, I can still lie to you." Liu Xinqi replied, and then asked: "What have you been studying recently?"

"I'm currently conducting three studies on making better paper, thermometers and steel wires," Liu Zhimu replied.

"How's the progress?" Liu Xinqi asked again.

Then Liu Zhimu elaborated on the current research progress and difficulties encountered in the research to Liu Xinqi.

Paper is making the fastest progress, and tear-resistant and blistering-resistant paper has been trial-produced. However, the cost is too high. If this kind of paper is used to make food stamps, the value of the paper itself is equivalent to half of the face value of the food stamps.

The main focus is to continue to look for alternative materials to reduce the manufacturing cost of this paper.

Several thermometers were trial-produced using natural crystal drilled holes, and indeed, as Liu Xinqi said, they can accurately measure temperature.

Place the thermometer with freshly frozen water, record the position of the mercury level in the crystal, and mark it as 0 degrees. Then place the thermometer in boiling water, record the position of the mercury level in the crystal, and mark it as 100 degrees. Degree, after dividing the distance between 0 and 100 into equal parts, the temperature can be measured basically accurately.

However, the problem is the same as that of papermaking. The cost is too high. Natural crystals are gemstones, and the cost of a thermometer is very high.

The research progress of steel wire is relatively slow, and the wire drawing method has not been successful. The small hole will become a big hole after being pulled several times.It can only be beaten into silk by making steel, which is not difficult and the cost is not high, but it is too labor-intensive and too slow to make.However, among the three studies, although the steel wire is the slowest, only the steel wire research results can be applied.

Because no matter how labor-intensive and time-consuming it is, the steel wire produced is cheaper and easier to use than bowstring materials such as beef tendon.

"Leave these three studies to the people below. You and I will work together. There are two important studies that need results as soon as possible. I will mobilize some more soldiers to help you." Liu Xinqi said: "By the way, you have I haven’t found any good candidates for research, the kind of kids who are smart, diligent and eager to learn.”

"There are five of them, two are building kilns in Baishiwan, and three are under my command, working on the three projects I just mentioned."

"Call the three of them over."

Liu Xinqi planned to use the general card on these people. He originally planned to use the general card as a first aid card, but in the past few days, he found that not using the general card was a huge waste in itself.

Making full use of general cards can increase Liujiabao's productivity and combat power faster, and reduce casualties in future battles, which is equivalent to saving people before they are injured.

After a while, three young men came to Liu Xinqi, two surnamed Liu and one surnamed Zhang.

Liu Xinqi took out two two-star "Han Sergeant (Cavalry)" and a two-star "Han Sergeant (Infantry)" card, and handed one of the cards to Liu Zhimu.

"Try holding the card and using it on him." After Liu Zhimu took the beautiful card, Liu Xinqi said to Liu Zhimu, and then pointed at the young man named Zhang.

After Liu Zhimu asked about the specific method of use, he clasped the card in the palm of his right hand, silently said how to use it, and then patted the young man surnamed Zhang on the chest.

The general card turned into a beam of light and sank into the young man's chest, and was successfully used.

"People who have attached a military commander card can also use the military commander card on others." Liu Xinqi thought to himself.

This is good, as it will prevent Liu Xinqi from having too many general cards in the future and having to use them one by one.

He handed both cards in his hand to Liu Zhimu and watched him use them on the other two clan members surnamed Liu.

Liu Xinqi said to the three of them: "Your master recommended you three to me, saying that you three are smart, diligent, and eager to learn. Although I don't know you three, I believe in your master's recommendation. I hope you will be immortalized in the future." Queen Fa, be as diligent and studious as ever, use your intelligence and talents to complete Liujiabao’s research tasks better and faster, and contribute to making Liujiabao stronger.”

"Thank you, Patriarch. We will definitely live up to your and Master's expectations."

The three of them bowed and saluted at the same time and responded.

Arranging for the three of them to go down and get familiar with the body, Liu Xinqi began to introduce to Liu Zhimu the two studies that were about to begin: muskets and gunpowder.

In the preliminary development stage of muskets, the "rolling iron method" will be used to make the barrel first.That is to first make an iron rod, then make a thin iron sheet, heat the iron sheet and roll it on the iron rod, beat it to seal, and finally pull out the iron rod to make an iron pipe. With other parts, it becomes a musket.

Liu Xinqi planned to directly transfer the matchlock gun to the customized flintlock gun during the development stage.

With the knowledge of future generations as the foundation, and the little superhuman warriors as researchers, if you still start with a matchlock gun, it won't make people laugh.

(End of this chapter)