Cuiyun Lane in the afternoon.

A white horse slowly stopped in front of the Chen Mansion. Chen Wenzong turned over and dismounted lightly. When he landed, a boy from the family came up to him and took the reins and whip from his hands.

Chen Wenzong silently lifted up the hem of his clothes, crossed the high threshold, and walked deep into the red gate.

A healthy servant came forward with a polished copper basin: "Master, wipe your face."

There was hot water prepared in the copper basin, and a white handkerchief was placed on the edge of the copper basin. Chen Wenzong picked up the handkerchief, dipped it in the hot water, and wiped it twice from his forehead to his chin. Only then did he feel refreshed.

Some.

Chen Wenzong folded the white handkerchief and put it back on the edge of the copper basin, and asked softly: "Where is father?"

Jian Pu said in a low voice: "After the master ordered the young man who was ignorant of money to be executed with a cane, he ordered a car to be prepared and went to the Yamen. It seems that there are still official matters to be dealt with."

"Where's mother?"

Jian Pu replied: "My wife has made an appointment with Mrs. Zhang to go to the Garment Bureau to select silk and satin."

"What about asking for filial piety?"

Jian Pu continued to answer: "The second young master went out with his friends and said they were going to Dongshi for a visit."

Chen Wenzong was in a daze for a while. A servant died at home today, but no one in the house seemed to be affected. Everything was as usual.

"Where's the butler?"

"After the housekeeper was beaten, we carried him back to the house to rest."

"I'm going to see him," Chen Wenzong walked through the long vermilion porch and came to the back house where his servant lived.

As soon as he entered the courtyard, he heard the butler's cursing voice: "That little bastard is now hard-up against the prince's palace, and he dares to complain in front of the master... Ah, please be gentle with the medicine!"

There was a snap, as if someone in the butler's room had received a sharp slap in the face. Soon, a servant was heard saying in a panic: "I'll be gentler."

Chen Wenzong frowned. The butler's tone at this time was completely different from what he heard in the past. They were completely different.

He walked forward and opened the cotton curtain, and saw the butler lying naked on the bed. A servant was applying medicine to him. There was also a plate of preserved fruits and pastries beside the bed.

The butler saw Chen Wenzong coming in from the corner of his eye. He immediately stood up and lifted up his pants and said with tears of gratitude: "Sir, why did you come to visit me in this backyard? This filthy place where people live is not the place you should come to."

Chen Wenzong said slowly: "You must have taken a good rest after receiving those ten sticks... I went to look for the traces just now, but I couldn't bring him back."

The housekeeper said solemnly: "Master, why are you looking for him? Don't think he is putting on airs at this time. It is nothing more than a trick to trick the master into feeling sorry for him. As long as you and the master ignore him, he will find a way to return to the Chen Mansion after a while.

Come."

"Why?"

The housekeeper vowed: "Don't look at him looking like he doesn't want to go back to his home now, can he really give up the glory and wealth of the Chen Mansion?"

Yes, the Chen family has been serving as ministers for many generations. The current head of the family, Chen Luchi, is still the Minister of Household Affairs. How many people can let go of such an honor?

But when Chen Wenzong recalled the traces he had just seen, he clearly felt that the other party's expression was determined and calm, and he really wanted to sever ties with Chen Fuen.

He was silent for a long time: "Butler, please take a good rest. I'm going to read a book and tell the chef that he doesn't need to prepare my dinner tonight."

"yes."

Chen Wenzong went out and walked through the deep courtyard, returned to his room and sat in front of the desk. He wanted to review the meaning of the scriptures, but he flipped through the book several times but couldn't read it.

The day after tomorrow was autumn. He smoothed the rice paper with a black jade paperweight and wanted to write a policy essay. The brush was full of ink but he still couldn't write.

In Chen Wenzong's mind, the princess's accusations and the laughter on the bullock cart were always echoing, which could not be calmed down.

After a while, he stood up and walked out, saying to the boy waiting at the door: "Get your horses ready."

Chen Wenzong hurriedly came to the door and got on his horse. He gently clamped the horse's belly with his legs and galloped towards the south of the city.

He wanted to apologize to Chen Ji sincerely, but he never cared about his brother's injury. His brother was indeed unworthy of a sage.

…

…

After the snow melted, the official road was muddy and bumpy, and the closer to Liujiatun, the darker the road became, and the ground was covered with cinders leaked from the oxcart.

Liujiatun was not as secluded as imagined. I saw vendors and bullock carts coming and going at the entrance of the village. Some were bringing clay in and some were pulling out porcelain.

There were many chimneys erected in the village, spewing white smoke into the sky continuously. The Libang workers were busy loading and unloading goods in single clothes and leaky straw sandals in the early snow.

The entire Liujiatun is a huge ceramics workshop.

Chen Wenzong rode on his horse, beckoned to stop a Libang and asked warmly: "Excuse me... have you seen the crown prince and the princess?"

Libang was a little confused: "Why did the prince and the princess come to a place like us? Is this young man in the wrong place?"

Chen Wenzong was silent for a moment. He also thought that he had gone to the wrong place, but when Chen Ji stood in front of the medical clinic, it was clear that he was talking about Liujiatun.

He asked again: "Then did you see a group of eight people coming to Liujiatun? There was also a monk among them."

Libang suddenly realized: "Tell them, they just used a gold hairpin to take down the abandoned kiln factory of the old Zhou family. The third one after you turn left is the one."

"Thank you," Chen Wenzong threw out two copper coins and rode his horse forward in the mud. Seeing his tall horse and majestic weapons, Chen Wenzong avoided the middle road one after another.

After a few steps, he heard traces of laughter coming from afar: "Please cover your mouth and nose with cloth strips. If you breathe in the dust, you will feel uncomfortable for a long time."

Chen Wenzong reined in his horse and stopped at the entrance of the kiln. He looked down at the mud on the road after the snow had melted and the clean soap boots on his feet. He hesitated for a moment whether to dismount.

He looked up and saw that the door of the kiln was open, and the yard was filled with gray dust. Chen Ji and others were sullen and covered their mouths and noses with cloth strips, and they were pushing the huge stone roller in the yard to grind the pieces of broken porcelain into powder.

.

This was completely different from Chen Wenzong's imagination. He thought that the prince and the princess were happily walking in the snow to find plum blossoms, but he did not expect that the other party would actually do dirty work in a dilapidated kiln factory.

Zhoujia Kiln Factory covers an area of ​​about two acres. On the left is a row of short loess houses with tattered tiles. In the middle is a huge flat kiln, which is not lit at this time. On the left is a mountain-high pile of defective porcelain.

, and a huge stone roller.

Liang Gouer lay under the eaves of the loess house, covering his face with a piece of dried tobacco leaf and fell asleep. The young monk sat cross-legged on the ground, closed his eyes and chanted sutras. Chen Ji and others pushed the heavy stone roller together, breaking the pieces into pieces.

Porcelain is crushed into slag.

Bai Li held a short broom and kept sweeping the ground dust into the bamboo basket for later use.

At this time, a handful of dust rose up, and Princess Baili's face was covered with a layer of dust.

The prince, who was pushing the stone roller, said distressedly: "Come on, I will help you wipe your face."

Bai Li raised her face when she heard this, but the prince did not wipe it for her. Instead, he wrote the word "王" on her forehead.

The prince laughed: "Now he looks more like a little tiger!"

Bai Li was furious from the bottom of his heart and chased the broom in his hand. The two of them chased each other around the stone roller, while the others worked together to push the huge stone roller and laughed.

Liu Quxing looked at She Dengke: "Shall I help you wipe your face too?"

She Dengke sneered: "Go away, you disgusting person. Don't think I don't know that you are doing bad things again. You are so bad!"

Chen Wenzong sat on his horse and watched silently. He didn't know why these people could be so happy pushing a stone roller with a shameful face.

Enjoying hardship?

But with such a noble status as the Crown Prince and Princess Baili, why do they have to do these things like laborers?

After much hesitation, Chen Wenzong finally jumped off the horse. When he landed, the black boots were splashed with mud. He did not make a sound rashly, but quietly entered the kiln yard and observed silently.

But I heard Chen Ji say: "Okay, let's grind so much first. I have to see the results before I know how to adjust later. This time we have to be prepared for a protracted war."

His understanding of cement comes from the widely circulated secret of "two grinding and one burning".

It's simple to say: just mix the raw materials obtained by calcining lime and clay in a ratio of 75:25. Although it is not as good as special cement, it is definitely enough in this era.

There are piles of broken porcelain in the kiln. These are defective products that have been eliminated from the previous kiln. They can be directly used as raw materials for fired clay. Besides, hydrated lime was called chalk ash in the Ning Dynasty and has been widely used in many fields.

, just buy ready-made ones.

Seeing that the raw materials are all there, it seems that all that is left is grinding and stirring.

But Chen Ji knows that, like the method of decolorizing yellow mud with sugar, many things sound simple but are difficult to do. It is easy to make cement, but it is difficult to make qualified cement.

At this time, no one noticed Chen Wenzong's arrival, so he watched silently, wanting to see what the prince and others wanted to do.

Chen Ji poured the ground chalk ash and porcelain ash into the open space of the kiln, then poured the same proportion of water into the powder and stirred it into a paste.

After the mixture was evenly mixed, he spread the cement on a piece of blue brick and let it dry. A group of gray-faced people squatted next to it and waited.

The prince squatted with his knees in his arms and asked in a low voice: "Chen Ji, how long do we have to wait?"

Chen Ji thought for a while: "It takes more than three quarters of an hour for initial condensation and less than three hours for final condensation to be considered qualified."

"Three hours, so long?"

Chen Ji said seriously: "Patience, you need patience to do great things!"

"Oh... let's play Pai Gow for a while?"

"Did you bring Pai Gow?"

"I didn't bring it with me. We'll bring it with us when we come back tomorrow."

"OK."

Bai Li smiled and said: "Although I don't know if this thing called cement will be as strong as Chen Ji said after it is made, but working here feels much more interesting and fulfilling than studying in the academy."

Chen Ji smiled and said: "Princess, this is just a novelty for you. If you are made to be like those powerful sticks, you will definitely not be happy."

Speaking of this, Bai Li suddenly felt sad: "I used to like to ask Xibing, Xitang and the others about the world outside the house, and wanted to see how the people lived. At that time, just listening to what they said, I felt that the people were living a very miserable life.

, but today I saw the old men still wearing straw sandals in winter, and I realized that their suffering is beyond imagination."

Chen Ji was silent for a moment and then said: "The princess and the prince were born in wealth, so they don't understand the hardships of life, but it is not easy for you to understand these things."

The prince curled his lips and said: "We should also ask the Gong Gongs in the court to come and see what the lives of the people under their rule are like."

Chen Wenzong watched this scene and suddenly interrupted from behind them: "The Dukes above the court also care about the country. They work hard every day to formulate government decrees to save the people from disaster. If you want to blame, I can only blame them.

The Jing Dynasty and our Ning Dynasty have been fighting for years, causing the people to live in dire straits. The prince and the princess Jin Zhi Yu Ye should not waste time in the countryside, let alone arrange the princes in the court behind their backs."

The people squatting on the ground turned around and looked at him when they heard the sound: "Hey, why are you here?!"

Chen Wenzong did not answer this question, but said sincerely: "Your Majesty, Princess, you should go back and read the sages' books carefully, so as to benefit the whole country in the future."

The prince squatted on the ground and said carelessly: "We are doing something important in military strategy, you nerd doesn't understand!"

Chen Wenzong's breath was stagnant: "How can you do something important that affects military strategy in this dirty Liujiatun!"

The prince laughed happily and said, "You don't understand even if I tell you."

Chen Wenzong said solemnly: "How can I understand if you don't tell me?"

The prince hesitated and said: "...I don't understand the main thing either."

Chen Wenzong murmured: "Your Majesty, you are quite honest."

Chen Ji glanced at him: "Brother, if you want to watch, just stand aside and watch. Don't talk nonsense. Don't look down on what we are doing now. The end of knowledge is to apply it to benefit the people. Empty talk will only

Harm the country."

When Chen Wenzong heard this, he wanted to get angry. Confucianism teaches that brothers, friends, and brothers should respect each other, but Chen Ji didn't care about these etiquettes at all, and didn't take his elder brother seriously at all.

But he thought about the purpose of his trip and finally endured it. He didn't want to squat on the ground and humiliate Sven like these people in front of him, so he stood aside and waited quietly, wanting to see what trouble these people were going to create.

only……

Chen Wenzong asked doubtfully: "I just listened to your conversation. It seems that Chen Ji is in charge here?"

Everyone looked at each other, wondering what kind of problem this was. After thinking for a moment, the prince asked, "What else?"

Chen Wenzong was stunned. The housekeeper had always said that Chen Ji was kneeling down to the crown prince and the princess, but now it seems that what the housekeeper said was completely wrong!

Bai Li tugged on the prince's arm: "Brother, ignore him, we won't play with him."

Chen Wenzong: "..."

I don't know how long they waited, maybe two hours, maybe three hours. After everyone's legs were numb from squatting, they brought wooden chairs from the house and continued to wait.

When the sun went down, Chen Ji suddenly said: "It should be OK. The initial setting time and the final setting time are both satisfactory, but I don't know if it is strong enough."

The prince went up to check and saw that the mud that had just been applied to the bricks had solidified and was integrated with the blue bricks.

His eyes lit up and he looked at Chen Ji: "How long does it take for ordinary glutinous rice mortar to solidify?"

Chen Ji said: "Ten days."

The prince asked again: "If this thing can really replace the glutinous rice mortar, my father will not have to worry. The chalk and clay can be obtained everywhere, and many people will not have to go hungry because of the expropriation of glutinous rice!"

Chen Ji picked up the blue bricks, carefully looked at the cement-solidified structure, and suddenly said: "Don't be too happy too early."

After that, he reached out and rubbed it gently with his thumb, and the cement that should have been strong and solid was rubbed away like tofu dregs.

If you use this cement to build a city in a border town, I'm afraid it will collapse before the Jing Dynasty comes to attack. The prince and Bai Li may be fine by then, but Chen Ji may be beheaded...

What's the problem?

Chen Ji likes to read popular science knowledge, so he has a wide range of knowledge. Being knowledgeable usually means that every aspect of knowledge is only superficial and cannot be studied in depth.

It sounds logical when you talk about it, but it takes a lot of detours when you actually do it.

Chen Ji sighed: "It's definitely not going to work like this."

The prince asked: "What should we do?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment: "These ground porcelain powder needs to be sifted a little finer. Princess, take She Dengke and Brother Mao'er to the countryside to look for a sieve with a finer mesh. Prince, you

I'll go buy some chalk with Senior Brother Liu and the young monk later..."

Chen Ji always felt that something was wrong. He seemed to have missed a crucial step.

Chen Wenzong looked at Chen Ji thinking intently and felt that the other person was particularly strange.

In the past, in Chen's house, Chen Ji lived alone in a courtyard, ate alone, and slept alone. Even the school he went to was different from the one he and Wenxiao went to. His mother would always regard Chen Ji as a naughty boy.

To prevent them from getting along.

The brothers obviously live in the same mansion, but they seem to live in two worlds.

It wasn't until this moment that Chen Wenzong realized that he had never really understood this younger brother.

At this moment, Chen Ji suddenly raised his head and looked at the huge earthen kiln in the middle of the yard: "No, this kiln is wrong. No wonder the boss was hesitant when he ordered the kiln!"

After that, he took a branch and squatted on the ground to draw a gourd: "This is a rising flame kiln. The temperature cannot meet the requirements for firing cement. It needs to be replaced by a gourd kiln or a steamed bun kiln to turn the rising flame into a down flame.

That’s it. Your Majesty, go and summon the Liujiatun force sticks to come over.”

The prince was curious: "What are you going to do?"

Chen Ji said firmly: "I want to change the kiln!"
Chapter completed!