The plan to purchase farm tools and oxen can only be entrusted to various trading companies for the time being.

After all, Dongning Province is located on the border, and there are not many iron tools and oxen to begin with.

The remaining ironware was all used to forge weapons.

It seems that if we have time, we should explore the surrounding area to see if there are any iron ore deposits.

If there is iron ore, then iron and steel can be smelted.

Then we won't have to worry about ironware anymore.

Now, Li Xin is not only worried about ironware, but also about news from the north.

Even though the harbor has thawed, the northern mountains and forests are still a vast expanse of white.

The scouts sent out also brought back bad news.

The grassland bandits appear to be gathering.

What are they trying to do?

Is it revenge?

Li Xin frowned, feeling somewhat uneasy.

He knew that these grassland bandits were like a sword hanging over his head, ready to fall at any moment.

Even with the Thunderclap Bomb and the hundreds of guards of the Prince's Palace, Dongning City would still be helpless if the grassland bandits gathered a large force and besieged it.

The retreat of the grassland bandits before the New Year was not only due to the attack by the thunderbolts.

More importantly, heavy snow blocked the mountains and roads, causing logistical problems.

That is why the grassland bandits retreated.

After spring arrives and the roads become clear, it becomes even easier for bandits on the grasslands to travel.

It seems we still need to guard against attacks from grassland bandits!

Inside the Xinwang Palace.

Li Xin held a pen, lost in thought.

The Prince's Guard now numbers six or seven hundred men, and under the command of Wei Jun and He Chaojun, they train hard every day.

They were able to use everything skillfully, including the thunderclap bomb.

There's no need to worry about that for now.

However, during the last defense of Dongning City, Li Xin saw another problem.

That is, the city wall was short and not sturdy.

Unlike the interior of the Daqian Dynasty, Dongning City was located on the frontier, and its city walls were naturally not as sturdy as those of the capital.

Last time, the grassland bandits almost climbed up the city wall using only rope hooks.

If the grassland bandits were equipped with siege weapons, I'm afraid...

Fortify the city walls!

It needs to be put on the agenda!

The construction of the city wall requires bricks, stones, and adhesive materials.

Bricks and stones are easy to make. With so many people in the city, it's more than enough to organize them to fire bricks and tiles and make stone.

What kind of adhesive should be used?

Based on current experience, the city walls were built using quicklime, clay, and fine sand, with glutinous rice paste and egg whites added and mixed evenly before construction.

This is the famous Sanhetu!

In later generations, it was said that the three-component soil was even stronger than cement.

However, so many materials cannot be found in Dongning City.

For example, where can you find so much glutinous rice and eggs?

It seems that the three-in-one soil won't work.

Oh, right!

cement!

Suddenly, Li Xin's eyes lit up.

In this era, cement did not yet exist.

If cement could be manufactured and used to replace the three-component soil, the effect would certainly be excellent!

Near Dongning City, there are limestone mines and clay deposits.

These are all raw materials for making cement.

Although there is no coal, charcoal can be used as a substitute.

Thinking about it, Li Xin searched for information about cement production in the smart technology section.

He flipped through the documents while scribbling and drawing on the paper.

Half an hour later, Li Xin had found a relatively practical method for making cement.

The cement production process seems very simple.

This involves grinding limestone into powder and mixing it thoroughly with clay powder.

If you have the means, you can add iron powder, but it's not essential.

After thorough mixing, it is calcined into cement clinker using either a dry or wet method.

Cement clinker and gypsum powder are ground and mixed together to form cement.

The method is simple, but the biggest challenge is calcination.

Calcination of cement clinker requires a temperature of at least 1200 degrees Celsius, and this temperature must be maintained continuously.

Despite the numerous difficulties, Li Xin fortunately found a solution.

In the field of smart technology, I found a book from the 1950s or 60s called "Traditional Cement Manufacturing Process".

Back then, the conditions for building cement kilns in various villages were not as good as those in Dongning City!

The book's contents provided a good answer to the fuel problem.

charcoal!

Blower!

Sealed furnace!

With these items, the furnace temperature can be raised.

Blowers and sealed furnaces are relatively easy to manufacture.

After all, the blowers and sealed furnaces that blacksmith shops were using at that time could be easily improved.

Charcoal is even more convenient.

Thinking it over, Li Xin instructed Liu Jingxuan to select some able-bodied men to go into the mountains to cut timber.

Furthermore, several large charcoal kilns were built outside Dongning City.

Dongning City has many forests, mostly high-quality pine and hazelnut trees, making it relatively easy to make charcoal.

The charcoal kiln in this plan has also been upgraded.

The new charcoal kiln not only provides fuel for cement production, but also supplies the gunpowder factory.

In the future, it could even provide fuel for the entire city.

Before the discovery of large coal mines, charcoal was needed as fuel for subsequent iron smelting and other processes.

After planning the location of the charcoal kiln, Li Xin also began to plan for personnel to mine limestone, clay, and collect gypsum and other materials.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!