Chapter 117: Things are done

Although Zhu Chong is not sure whether Tang Sai'er is the legendary White Lotus Mother in his impression, this little girl Tang Sai'er has shown intelligence beyond that of children of the same age during the time she has been with him.

"That's not hard to guess." Tang Sai'er puffed out her chest proudly. "Sister Ying and Sister Miaozhen came back to tell me that you bought the coal mine. And the young master was summoned to the palace by the emperor at this time. If it's not about the coal mine, could it be about the official business you have on hand?"

"And our Emperor, he's been at war with one man or another for so many years. He's emptied the national treasury long ago. Now that a mountain of gold has suddenly appeared, it's strange he's not jealous."

"And what kind of banknotes did he get? If you hadn't reminded me, they would have become waste paper. They would be too rough to wipe my butt with!"

"You have such a poisonous tongue!" Zhu Chong poked Tang Sai'er's eyebrows with his finger in annoyance.

When he had nothing to do on weekdays, he would teach Tang Sai'er and other girls some knowledge and talk about things about the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Chong did not expect that Tang Sai'er actually remembered everything in her mind and analyzed it clearly. The key is that she could even perceive other things from it.

"Let's not talk about this anymore." Tang Sai'er smiled and hugged Zhu Chong's arm. "Then what did the emperor say when he summoned you to the palace? Did he invite you to dinner? When will you take me to the palace to eat the imperial meal? I wonder if the dishes cooked by the palace chef are as delicious as those cooked by you!"

"Is the food cooked in the palace edible?" Zhu Chong sneered, "Your son eats in the East Palace, while my eldest brother's small kitchen is barely edible."

"As for the coal mines, they now belong to our Emperor. He and the Crown Prince took ninety percent, leaving ten percent for the Treasury and Banknote Administration."

"Ah? Master, didn't you leave any for yourself?" Tang Sai'er widened her beautiful eyes with a look of disbelief. She seemed unable to understand why Zhu Chong gave away almost the entire coal mine.

"What are you keeping it for?" Zhu Chong sneered. "It's too hot to keep. It's better to give it away. Besides, whoever wants it will be in trouble in the future. That thing is the apple of the eye of our emperor. Anyone who dares to lay his hands on it will have their entire family chopped off!"

"Ah?" Tang Sai'er cried immediately after hearing this. "Then all your efforts were in vain, didn't you?"

"Are you standing up for me, or are you worried that I won't be able to give you a dowry?" Zhu Chong joked with a smile.

Although Tang Sai'er was young, she had already grown into the mold of a beauty. In the Ming Dynasty, many girls were engaged at the age of thirteen or fourteen, so there was nothing wrong with what Zhu Chong said.

"Young Master, what are you talking about! I'm not going to talk to you anymore!" Tang Sai'er's face turned red with anger at Zhu Chong. She gently pushed Zhu Chong and ran away. Yang Miaozhen and Zhou Xiuying smiled and hugged Zhu Chong into the house.

The next day, Zhu Chong arrived at the Baochao Tizhusi almost on time.

You can't be careless when reporting for duty in the morning, and the rules cannot be abolished. However, Zhu Chong really has no words to complain about the working hours set by Zhu Yuanzhang for officials. After reporting for duty every day, he feels drowsy. I don't know how Zhu Yuanzhang can persist for so long.

After the roll call, Old Liu came forward to report, "Sir, the things you requested are now ready. When would you like to take a look?"

Now that the lime kiln has started operating, it is easy to prepare the raw materials for making cement. Zhu Chong asked Old Liu to prepare them before entering the palace yesterday, but he didn't expect that the work would be done today.

"Okay, let's go and take a look together." Zhu Chong waved his hand and took Old Liu and others to the lime kiln workshop.

Old Liu sent someone to bring the lime, clay and charcoal slag that Zhu Chong had requested. These are the most basic raw materials for making cement.

I have to say that Old Liu completed the task assigned by Zhu Chong very meticulously.

The snow-white lime was like flour, with no larger particles visible. The same was true for the clay and charcoal slag. It was obvious that Old Liu took Zhu Chong's instructions as a very important matter.

"Well done." Zhu Chong gave Old Liu a satisfied smile, and then began to prepare to make cement.

However, although he has the entire process of making cement, he still needs to spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to accurately mix these raw materials to make suitable cement.

Afterwards, Zhu Chong did not hide anything and gave the cement ratio that he had copied down long ago to Old Liu, and asked him to lead people to start making cement according to the cement ratio and production method that he had copied down.

It is impossible for him to do the work himself. Professional matters should be left to professionals. Zhu Chong likes to take advantage of ready-made things the most. Laborious and strenuous work is not suitable for him!

Old Liu quickly looked through the recipe Zhu Chong gave him, then called someone to take out a small amount of raw materials and began to mix the three raw materials into one. He then put the mixed raw materials into the kiln and started firing.

After the raw materials were fired into clinker, Old Liu personally took out the clinker, cooled it, poured in river sand and water, and then asked the people below to start stirring it. After it was stirred evenly, he poured it into the special wooden box requested by Zhu Chong.

When Old Liu was doing these things, Zhu Chong had already left. That's how he was. After he finished explaining things, he would take a rest. Anyway, he would have to wait until tomorrow to see the quality of the cement. He had already finished what he had to do today, so naturally he had to go back and rest.

That is, in the Baochao Tizhusi. If it were somewhere else, someone would have already submitted a memorial to criticize Zhu Chong.

Even so, some veteran craftsmen at the Treasure Banknote Administration Office couldn't help but say behind his back, "Our Supervisor is good in every way, except that he's a bit too lazy. Are all princes like this?"

Zhu Chong had no idea that some people were saying he was too lazy behind his back, but even if he knew, he wouldn't care.

The next day, Zhu Chong arrived at the Baochao Tizhu Division yawning. Before he could even report for duty, Old Liu, beaming with joy, approached Zhu Chong, clasped his fists, and reported, "Sir, the thing is done! Just as you said, it's very solid!"

When Zhu Chong heard what Old Liu said, he was stunned at first, but when he came to his senses, he was overjoyed. He handed the roll call to Zhang Quan, and then dragged Old Liu straight to the lime kiln.

Looking at the cement blocks that had been taken out of the wooden box, Zhu Chong's originally happy expression suddenly fell.

"Sir, what are you doing..." Old Liu noticed that Zhu Chong's expression changed and he suddenly became nervous.

"You call this solid?" Zhu Chong asked Old Liu in a mixture of anger and amusement, pointing at the honeycomb-shaped cement block full of bubbles, feeling both amused and helpless.

"Yeah, isn't this quite solid?" Old Liu didn't understand and slapped the cement block a few times, making a popping sound.

"Watch this!" Zhu Chong casually grabbed the hammer beside him and hit the cement block with the hammer head. However, the first hit didn't work. He hit it four or five times before the cement block was smashed into pieces, leaving Old Liu and the other craftsmen even more confused.

What's wrong with this? Why did it get smashed for no reason? Could it be...