Author: Potato Sweet Potato Pie

Some words just don't make sense to Zhu Houzhao, a mentally retarded person. As long as it's not about the things he cares about, he looks like a fool.

Xia Yuan could only give examples of things he cared about. What did the dog care about more than the prince? War, military affairs.

"Ninety-nine percent of the official roads in the Ming Dynasty are now dirt roads with bumpy roads and inconvenient transportation. If such a flat cement road is built, will the horse-drawn carriages on it have to run faster than those dirt roads?"

"yes."

"If this kind of cement road were laid all over the world, no matter where a rebellion occurs, the army and logistics can rush along this flat cement road, which greatly speeds up the speed. The journey that usually takes a month can be reached.

It only takes ten days and a half.”

"Or to put it more simply, we can build a wide and flat cement road leading directly to Mobei. When the time comes, the supplies, soldiers and horses can walk on it and run fast and steadily."

Before he could finish his words, Zhu Houzhao's eyes lit up, his breathing began to quicken, and his whole face turned red with excitement. The key to marching is to be fast, and the faster, the better.

Not only can you respond quickly, but you can also rush to the battlefield as quickly as possible.

More importantly, it can save food and grass.

These days, transporting food requires manpower, and the loss is huge. For example, when transporting food to some distant borders, the loss is as high as eight to two, or even nine to one.

For example, the imperial court recruited civilians to transport grain and set off from the capital to Liaodong, a thousand miles away.

Suppose there is a grain transport team of 10,000 people, each carrying one hundred kilograms of grain, one million kilograms.

Then only 100,000 jins of grain could be sent to Liaodong, and the remaining 900,000 jins went into the stomachs of the people.

Not only do you have to eat when you go, you also have to eat on the way back.

Of course, the imperial court is not mentally retarded, and basically transports food nearby. But if there is no food nearby, or there is not enough food, then it can only adopt this extremely expensive method.

Zhu Houzhao was familiar with military books and had studied many battles. How could he not know the terrible loss of food and grass?

Otherwise, he would not have thought of using war as a means of supporting war in the future, and plundering cattle and sheep on the grasslands to replenish food and military supplies.

I even started adapting to the environment in Mobei very early, living in a yurt, wearing Mongolian clothes, drinking kumis, and eating roasted whole sheep.

"This cement is still a bit brittle and not suitable for road construction. It needs to be improved."

"How to improve it?"

"Let me think about it."

Xia Yuan walked over and looked at the cracked cement. The limestone was still not broken enough. It had to be broken more when it was burned. The temperature had to be higher, and there were still many impurities that had not been burned out.

Thinking in his mind, he took out the booklet recording the proportion of ingredients from his sleeve, opened it and looked at it. From this look, the proportion of clay must be appropriately reduced.

Then add more river sand, mix in sand and gravel, and then lay the cement thicker. After it is completely solidified and dried, the hammer will definitely not be able to break it, and mass production can begin.

"Twenty kiln entrances will be fired again. According to the cement from kiln entrance No. 17, try little by little. This time, the temperature will be higher, and the limestone and clay will be broken more."

Forbidden City, in the Nuan Pavilion of Qianqing Palace.

Emperor Hongzhi watched Xiao Jing take out a cloth bag from his arms, and then opened the inner and outer layers like a treasure. What was revealed in front of his eyes was a pile of blue-gray soil.

"What is this?" Zhu Youtang got closer and observed carefully. No matter how you look at it, it is just a handful of dirt, or the kind of dirt that doesn't look very good. There is still a faint smell.

I've never smelled it before, so I don't know how to describe it. It doesn't smell good anyway.

"Your Majesty, I heard from the people below that this is called cement dust."

In fact, Xiao Jing didn't know what it was. It was reported by someone below.

"Cement gray?"

"Exactly."

Xiao Jing nodded and poked the ashes with his finger, "Your Majesty, His Highness the Crown Prince and Xia Xima have been busy with this these past few days. The people below said it is just like making mud, adding some water to it."

"You said the two of them have been busy making mud these days?"

Hearing this, Zhu Youtang couldn't help but interrupt, his brows already furrowed.

"I don't dare to deceive the emperor, but it's just like making mud. I heard that you just need to add some water to the soil, add some sand and stones, and then stir it like making mud. After it dries, it will become

It must be extremely hard.”

Emperor Hongzhi's brows were still frowning, "How hard can it be?"

"According to the report from the people below, this thing is said to be impregnable. They also said that His Highness the Prince and the others have been conducting some experiments these days. When they first hit it with a hammer, it broke into pieces and fell into pieces.

But the ones made later are getting harder and harder every time. Now if I hit it hard with a hammer, the most it will leave is a little bump."

"How can it be so strong?"

"The people below said it was so strong, but I don't know the specific details. I guess even if it's not this strong, it's still very strong."

"."

Emperor Hongzhi nodded slightly, but said nothing. He stared at the pile of blue-gray cement dust and wondered what he was thinking. After hesitating for a moment, he picked up some cement dust with his fingers and rubbed it with his index finger and thumb.

It's like fine sand, but not as fine as fine sand, with a slight graininess.

Frankly speaking, he didn't quite believe that something like this could reach that level of solidity.

But he also hopes to be so strong. Many vacant halls in the Forbidden City have fallen into disrepair and have been reluctant to repair them. Just filling the cracks requires a large amount of glutinous rice juice, not to mention other expenses.

Material of silver.

But this kind of dust can become impregnable as long as it is mixed with free water, and then mixed with free sand and stones.

How much money will be saved in building a house in the future?

"Can Xiao Banban make peace with the mud?"

"I know how to make peace with you, but I haven't seen how His Highness the Prince and the others made peace. Maybe it's different from the usual way of making peace."

Having said this, Xiao Jing paused for a few moments and then added: "And the cement dust is probably a little lacking."

There are indeed very few, a small wooden box can probably fit it in. The people in the eastern suburbs are very strictly guarded. Those Dongchang fans sneaked into the kiln-burning team and helped burn the kiln for several days, and then they worked hard to create something like this.

Some.

Zhu Youtang began to ponder again, and after a while, he asked: "Where are they mixing mud in the eastern suburbs?"

"Yes, I heard that dozens of kilns were built there and the cement ash was fired continuously every day."

"Is this kind of ash produced by burning?"

"It is indeed baked. I forgot to report this before. Your Majesty, please forgive me."

"."

Emperor Hongzhi didn't answer, but he thought again in his mind, since it was made by firing, wouldn't it cost a lot of money?

Just like those fired porcelain.

Firing porcelain costs a lot of money.

But then he thought again, and he felt that the porcelain was beautiful and a pleasing object, but the soil was ordinary, and it was not too much to say it was ugly.

"Go, Xiao Banban, find me a member's coat and prepare a small sedan for me."

After much thought, he decided to go to the eastern suburbs to take a look.
Chapter completed!